Daedalean
by FragrantPrincess
Summary: There's more to the hunt than Sam and Dean know. When they find themselves one step behind a pair of hunters, the world of the Supernatural gets a little bit darker the more they discover. Just how dark can it get? Follows through Season 1.
1. The Call

**A/N Yeah...not going to pretend that this concpet hasn't been done before '_two sisters meeting up with the two brothers'_. HOWEVER! People who have read my work before know that I like to take my concepts and tweak them until they're...you know...original! Lol. Stick with me friends, it usually takes me a couple chapters to find my groove. The typical "five reviews gets you an update" of course applys to this story as well.**

A young red headed woman was sitting with her feet propped up on the dashboard of her black 2000 dodge ram with the radio playing. She lifted her sunglasses as she heard the vibration of her cell phone. The caller ID read a familiar phone number.

"Hailey, what is it?" she asked into the phone. The nearly hysterical girl on the other end of the phone was sobbing into the receiver. The blonde woman who had her head under the hood of the truck suddenly began paying close attention as she wiped her greasy hands on a rag. "We'll be there, don't worry."

"What is it, Tess?" the blonde asked her redhead counterpart after she had hung up the phone. The woman, Tess, was frantically scribbling something on a piece of paper, but when she finished she looked up.

"We got a case, Hailey's in trouble." That was all the answer the blonde needed. She slammed the hood of the truck down and jumped into the passenger seat as the truck roared to life. "Colorado here we come!"

X

The black truck sat outside of a nice suburban home. The two women were approaching the front door, but it flew open before they even had a chance to knock.

"Tamzin, Grace," a young brunette girl called as she flew at the two women. She wrapped her arms around both of them and they gave one another confused glances. "I'm so glad you're here. Please, come in." The two women followed her inside the familiar looking home.

"Hailey, what exactly is going on?" Grace, the blonde, asked as they were led into the dining room.

"Here's what I've compiled so far," Hailey said without regarding the question. "I-I know you two like to have as much information as you can before investigating. I took all the information I could…here's where Tommy last called from," she said pointing to a map with a red circle marking what was assumed to be a campsite.

"Hailey, slow down," Grace said taking her younger cousin by the shoulders and holding her eyes. "Start at the beginning." Hailey collapsed into a dining room chair, her breathing became shaky.

"Tommy took some of the Sunday school boys on a campout to Blackwater Ridge a little over a week ago. He's checked in every single day multiple times: phone calls, picture messages, videos, the works. Up until two days ago. Then they just stopped. He promised to call, it's not like him not to call." Hailey was getting hysterical again.

"Hailey, there's plenty of reasons why he wouldn't call. What makes you think something is wrong?" Tamzin, better known as Tess, asked.

"Because…I just know. We've all been so close since…since mom and dad died. He would call. I know it, please you have to help. The Park Rangers won't listen to me. You're all I have."

"Alright, alright stay calm," Grace said and ran her hand over the younger girl's hair. "We'll check into it, won't we Tess?" The two women made eye contact. Tess's jaw was firmly set and her arms were crossed over her chest. Grace gave her a pleading look and Tess sighed.

"Ya, we'll look into Hailey, don't worry," Tess answered. Hailey broke into fresh tears and wrapped her arms around Grace in a tight embrace.

"Guess we'd better start looking into this Blackwater Ridge," Tess said and leaned over the large map that was sprawled across the table.

X

"This is really good research," Grace said as she and Tess sat at the dining room table late that night. Hailey had collapsed on the living room couch and was sleeping soundly.

"Ya," Tess said absentmindedly as her eyes scanned the open laptop. "Look at this," she said and Grace came around to the other side of the table. "Looks like disappearances have been happening for a long time. "1982 eight people gone in the same year and again in 1959 and again before that in 1936."

"That's…every 23 years," Grace said doing the math quickly in her head. "What does it say about why they vanished?"

"Apparently grizzly bear attacks. Blood, torn tents, and claw marks were all found at the campsites," Tess answered. "Are we sure that this is something…_supernatural_ and not just a rogue bear with a blood lust?"

"I see your point, but it seems a little too convenient that this reoccurs every 23 years. I mean, a grizzly bear lives what twenty years max?" Grace asked.

"How the hell am I supposed to know, do I look like a park ranger?" Tess snapped. Grace rolled her eyes.

"No but you're the one sitting in front of a computer," Grace replied. Tess gave her a 'oh' look and quickly did a google search for grizzly bears in the Colorado area.

"Ya, about twenty-five years in the wild," Tess murmured. Her brow furrowed, however, as she saw another link on the web page. "What's this?" she clicked on the link and opened a new page. "Looks like this area was originally inhabited by Native Americans. And take a look at this, the Blackwater area was the tribal land of the Hopi Indians."

"I'll bet if there is something out there taking people it has something to do with them," Grace chimed in.

"That's what I was thinking. Why don't you stick around here and do some research on the Hopi Tribe and I'll head into town and ask some questions?"

"Alright, just be careful. You're people skills could use a little…refining." Tess pulled her jacket on and flipped her sister off. "See…" Grace muttered as Tess let the front door slam behind her "that's what I'm talking about…"

X

Grace sat cross legged on the dining room chair with her chin propped on her upraised hand. She was starring at the computer screen where she'd been all night. It was nearing ten in the morning when she heard a loud gasp from the other room. She immediately flew to her feet her hand instinctively flying to the Uzi defender fixed blade knife that was lying next to the computer. When she saw that is was only Hailey waking from a nightmare, she quickly retracted the blade ands tuck it in her pocket.

"Are you alright?" she asked as she rushed to the younger girl. Hailey was sweating and there were tears under her eyes.

"Ya, I'll be fine…just a bad dream," Hailey answered and Grace nodded her understanding. "You look tired, didn't you sleep?"

"No, I've been up all night doing some research so we can find Tommy." Hailey looked relieved. "Tess went into town to ask around about the area, see if anyone has by chance been out to Blackwater recently and seen Tommy."

"Good, that's good. You two always had a way of finding answers. I'm so lucky to have two cousins who are Private investigators. I don't know what I'd be doing with myself right now if I didn't have you two…let alone what I would have done after the accident."

"Hey, what's family for," Grace said wiping the tears from beneath Hailey's eyes. "You know you can always call us if you need anything."

"I know," Hailey said with a small smile. "You should get some rest. I bet Tess will be back soon. I don't want you to get sick or anything."

"Ok, _mom_," Grace teased. "I'll just head upstairs and take a shower. Holler if you need anything, ok?"

"I will. I think Ben is still sleeping so you might want to lock the door. I didn't tell him that I'd called you."

"I understand, not to worry." Grace stood and ruffled Hailey's hair before grabbing her backpack and walking up the stairs toward the guest bathroom she had used so many times before.

X

"Dude check out the size of this freakin bear," Dean Winchester said as he ignored his younger brother's rambling about Blackwater Ridge and why it was so remote.

"…and a dozen or more grizzlies in the area. It's no nature hike that's for sure," Sam said as he read a pamphlet about the area.

"You boys aren't planning on going out near Blackwater Ridge by any chance?" Both men turned to see a rather perturbed looking park ranger starring down at them.

"Oh no sir," Sam said laying on the act. "We're environmental study majors from UC Boulder, just working on a paper."

"Recycle, man," Dean added and Sam rolled his eyes. They new instantly the lie had failed as the Ranger frowned and folded his arms over his chest.

"Bull," the Ranger said as he scowled at them, Dean in particular. "You're friends with that Hailey girl right?" Sam and Dean exchanged glanced. Plan B.

"Yes, yes we are," Dean said almost too quickly. He leaned ever so slightly forward to read the Ranger's name bade, "Ranger…Wilkinson."

"Well I will tell you exactly what we told her. Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn't be back from Blackwater till the 24th, so it's not exactly a missing persons now is it?" Both of them shook their heads. "You tell that girl to quit worrying, I'm sure her brother is just fine."

"We will. Well that Hailey girl's quit a pistol, huh?" Dead asked as he raised both his eyebrows suggestively.

"That is putting it mildly." Ranger Wilkinson looked almost disgusted for a moment, but played it off.

"Actually you know what would help is if I could show her a copy of that backcountry permit you know so she could see her brothers return date." Ranger Wilkinson didn't' look too happy about having to spend anymore time with Sam or Dean, but turned and led them inside the station.

X

Tess pulled up to a Ranger Station and lazily parked the truck. She hopped out and began walking toward the cabin looking building. She was in a particularly fowl mood having not found anything all night with no sleep. Her eye sparkled for a moment as she caught sight of a 1967 black Chevy impala. She began walking backward as she kept her eyes on the car as long as possible. Her eyes remained on the car until she felt herself slam into a heavy body. While she kept her balance, she felt the person she ran into stumble backward.

"Watch where you're going!" she snapped and turned toward the ranger station without so much as a glance at the fallen person.

"Ya, thank you have a nice day!" Sam called from the ground. Dean extended a hand to Sam, but as he was helping Sam up he starred after the stranger.

"Woa…" he trailed off. "Nice ass," he muttered. He had lost focus on his brother as he starred after the woman who was wearing dark blue denim jeans that hugged her hips tightly.

"Dean!" Sam called as he fell back down to the ground. Dean snapped from his thoughts and looked down at his brother who sat there in shock.

"You shouldn't sit on the ground Sam, bears could have been here." Sam rolled his eyes and picked himself up and followed his jackass brother to the car.

"Can I help you?" Ranger Wilkinson asked as the fiery haired woman entered the room. He let his suspicious eyes wander over the young female. "You aren't from around these parts are you?"

"What was your first clue?" she asked sarcastically. "Look, I need some information. I'm looking for a Thomas Collins; he supposedly came through here about a week ago?"

"Not you lot again, how many times do I have to tell you that he isn't do back yet so he's not technically missing?" Ranger Wilkinson said almost in a whining voice. Tess had no compassion for him. She removed the Silver Star badge from her belt loop and slammed it on the counter.

"He is now," she said sternly. The Ranger looked from her to the badge then back up at her skeptically. He removed his hat and ran a hand through his thin gray hair.

"Ah shoot," he sighed. "Why'd that girl have to go and involve the authorities…?" Tess removed her sunglasses and placed them on top of her head.

"We wouldn't have gotten involved if you had been doing your job," she said sternly. The Ranger didn't look happy.

"I _have_ been doing my job, Missy," he said as his face turned red. Tess fixed him with a glare.

"Detective," she corrected. If at all possible Ranger Wilkinson's face grew even redder. "So how many men can you lend to the investigation?"

"Well you see that's the problem, _Detective_," he said sternly. "I don't have the authorization to send men out into the woods when there may be a grizzly on the loose."

"So you acknowledge there is something in the woods attacking citizens and yet you aren't attempting any sort of search and rescue?"

"I said _might_," he corrected. A smug look came over his face as though he'd just won some great victory. Tess rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Fine, but if we have a body on our hands I'm holding you personably responsible," she claimed and stormed for the door.

"Ah, Detective?" he called after her. "You forgot this," he tossed the silver badge to Tess and she easily caught it. Her lip twisted into a snarl as she clipped it back onto her belt and left the cabin. She immediately pulled her cell phone from her back pocket and dialed Grace.

X

Grace jumped from the shower and wrapped a towel around herself as she grabbed for her ringing phone. "Hey Tess, what's up?" she asked

_"Hey Grace, looks like the local police aren't going to be any help. Find anything out about our grizzly?"_

"Nothing specific, I have a few theories I'd like to run past you. None of them are looking very cheery at this point in time. What about you?"

"_I got nothing from the locals. It seems they all think it's been grizzly attacks these last few years. What's worse is that they're all petrified of the woods out there. I'm going to take another sweep of the town, check out a few of the bars, and I'll meet you back at the house tonight._"

"Alright, sounds good. I'll see you later then." Without a good-bye, Tess hung up from her end of the phone. Grace quickly pulled on a pair of light wash torn jeans and a white long sleeve shirt with a hood and a dark blue denim jacket over. Having not washed her hair, she pulled her dry wavy hair into a messy bun and pulled on a pair of comfortable, but sturdy, boots.

"Hey Grace?" There was a knock on the guest bedroom door. She opened it and saw Ben, her youngest cousin, standing on the other side. She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug and he easily lifted her petite form off the ground.

"Long time no see, how are you holding up?" Ben only wordlessly nodded his head and Grace brushed some hair from his eyes in a maternal way.

"Are those men downstairs your friends?" he asked. Grace furrowed her brow and shook her head. "Huh…they said they were park rangers."

"I'll be down in a minute, she said quickly and Ben nodded before Grace shut the door. She quickly walked over to her bag and removed her knife. She slipped it into the waistband of her jeans behind her back and let the jacket conceal it.

"That's Tommy." Grace heard Hailey say as she descended the stairs. There were two men about her age leaning over Hailey's computer looking at the video updates Tommy had sent.

"Can I help you?" Grace asked in an assertive tone. The two men turned exposing their full height. Grace folded her arms over her chest as both of them stared at her for a moment as if sizing her up…especially the shorter of the two.

"Hi you must be Grace. I'm Dean, this is my brother Sam, we're park rangers investigating the disappearance of your…"

"Cousin," Grace finished. She hesitantly looked at his outstretched hand. Dean grinned and took a step forward.

"I don't bite," he said with a wink. Grace resisted an eye roll as she shook his hand and then Sam's. "Is there any information you can provide us with that your cousin Hailey hasn't already?"

"I'm confused," Grace said completely ignoring the question. "I was under the impression that the local authorities weren't helping in the investigation."

"Well," Sam began and cast a sideways glance at Dean. "We recently came across some new evidence that may support your theory of his disappearance."

"Like what?" Grace asked. Hailey walked around the two men and stood next to Grace. She didn't must like being left out of the conversation.

"Well…um, in light of the fact that there may be grizzly bears in the area, we feel it is imperative to keep tabs on all of our campers," Same said with a small smile.

"Do you think the two campers that went missing this last April are connected to the potential disappearance of my cousin?" Grace asked.

"Two campers?" Dean asked. Grace arched an eyebrow. "Oh, yes of course. We had considered that…"

"You two don't look like park ranger," Grace said after a silent moment passed. The two brothers looked at one another then back at Grace.

"I don't care what they look like if they're here to help then I'm glad to have them," Hailey chimed in. "Grace maybe they could help you and…"

"Hailey, why don't you let me handle this, ok?" Grace asked in as gentle of a tone as she could muster. "Listen, rangers I appreciate everything you're trying to do, really. We've given you all the information we have. Why don't you just get back to us when you've found something.

"Grace?" Hailey asked in shock. Ben was standing near the base of the stairs now and Hailey looked to him for support, but he only adverted his eyes.

"We'll be sure to do that," Sam said smiling. "Hailey, you have my number. Call me if you think of anything else that might be important." Hailey only nodded. "It was nice meeting you Grace," Sam said with a smile. Grace managed to return it as he walked past her.

"You know, maybe I should get your number. You know, just in case we need to contact one another for any reason," Dean said as he stood in front of Grace.

"Are you seriously hitting on my cousin right now?" Ben asked. "Dude, you have like, the worst timing ever."

"Thanks kid," Dean said scowling at Ben. "So what do you say?" Dean asked turning back to Grace.

"I'll show you to the door," Grace said shortly. Dean sighed and followed after Sam. Grace waited until she saw them enter the Chevy impala parked out front before shutting the door.

"I can't believe you refused their help!" Hailey yelled. "I called you here to help find Tommy, not ruin our chances of ever seeing him again!"

"Hailey, I know you're upset. But Tess and I can handle this, the rangers would just get in our way…"

"What are you talking about? They're Park Rangers, it's their job to find people! I can't believe you!" Hailey yelled and stormed up the stairs.

"Hailey!" Grace called, but the teen was already slamming her bedroom door. "You hate me too?" Grace asked Ben who was still sitting on the stairs. He shrugged and folded his arms over his raised knees. "Thanks…"

X

Tess walked into a local bar and straight up to the bar counter. After her long day, she needed a drink.

"What can I get for you?" the bartender asked as he approached her. Tess placed her sunglasses on top of her head before ordering.

"Guinness," she replied. The bartender popped the lid off of a cold one and handed it to her. Tess paid and took a long sip of it….

…

Sam began pulling newspaper clippings that he found and laying them on the table to show Dean. "So, Blackwater Ridge doesn't get a lot of traffic, local campers mostly. But still, this past April two hikers went missing out there, they were never found."

"The two hikers Grace mentioned?" Dean asked and Sam nodded. "Damn she was hot. Come on, even you must have noticed."

"Dean, stay focused please," Sam pleaded. "1982, eight different people all vanished in the same year. Authorities said it was a grizzly attack. And again in 1959 and again before that in 1936. Every 23 years, just like clockwork."

"That's strange," Dean said. Sam assumed Dean was referring to the 23 year coincidence, but in fact Dean's attention had been drawn to the woman at the bar. "I recognize that ass…"

"Wait…what?" Sam asked as he stopped from unpacking his laptop. He followed Dean's line of vision toward the bar. "Dean, honestly, can you try to keep your mind focused on the hunt?"

"No I'm serious, I never forget an ass. That's the same woman from the park station this morning. The one who bowled you over."

"So what? It's a small town, there's like what two bars? It's not like she has a lot of options as to where to go," Sam argued. "Now watch this." Despite Dean's fascination with the ass-er woman at the bar, he leaned in to see the video clip Sam was playing. "I downloaded that guy, Tommy's, video to the laptop. Check this out." They both watched as something shady moved quickly behind the tent in the background.

"Do it again," Dean said as he furrowed his brow. They both concentrated even harder on the blurry image.

"That's three frames. That's a fraction of a second. Whatever that thing is, it can move," Sam informed Dean as he slowed the clip down. "Pretty weird huh?"

"Sure is," Dean agreed. He glanced over his shoulder at the woman who was still sitting at the bar. "I'm getting a drink, want one?" without waiting for an answer, Dean got up and walked to the bar.

"Dean that…that's not all…" Sam trailed off. He sighed and ran a hand over his face. He would never get used to his brother's one track mindedness.

"One," Dean said to the bartender. He leaned against the bar a few feet from the woman who was now talking on her phone. Dean pretended not to be listening, but in fact he was.

"Hey I need an address. William Shaw," the woman waited for the other person on the line to respond. "Ya I'm here hold on a second." The woman began patting her pockets looking for a pen and Dean was quick to respond. He pulled the one from his pocket and extended it to her. She looked at it as though it were diseased for a moment but took it. "Go ahead….4510 43rd street SW…." she read as she scribbled it on her hand. "Great. Do you need me to stop by there before I head back to the house?...There's nothing wrong with my _people skills_…fine, you go then! I'll hit the Camping Supply store and meet you back at the house at nine then. Ya, you too." She hung up. "Thanks," she said handing Dean the pen back.

"I'm Dean," he said letting his fingers touch hers as she handed him the pen. The woman retracted her hand and grabbed her drink.

"That's nice," she muttered and turned away from him as she began polishing her drink off.

"You like to camp?" he asked. The woman didn't turn to look at him, but stared straight ahead of her. "I heard you say you were going to a camping supply store," he elaborated. "Pretty romantic huh?" he asked raising his eyebrows. "Staying up late around a campfire, looking at the stars, sharing a sleeping bag." The woman rolled her eyes and started pulling her leather jacket on. "You know I enjoy a good campout. I was thinking of heading out myself. We could meet up or something, you know, and share our love of the outdoors."

"Are you always this annoying, or are you making a special exception today?" she asked, her voice laden with frustration.

"Well you know, a guy meets a beautiful woman in a bar. He has to do something to impress her," he replied with a wink. The woman sighed and shook her head.

"Dean, was it?" she asked and he nodded. "Well, if you really want to impress me, you can disappear."

"How about I buy you another drink instead," Dean offered. Tess gaped for a moment. Did he ever quit?

"Wow, tempting offer, but I think I have a date with an oncoming truck and I'd hate to miss it." Without another word the woman turned and left the bar. Dean sighed. Damn she had a nice ass…

"What the hell was that?" Sam asked as Dean returned to the table. "We're on a hunt Dean, or did you forget that part?"

"Relax Sammy," Dean said leaning back in his chair. "So what else do you have?" Sam just rolled his eyes.

"Well it looks like there's only been one survivor of the attacks over the years. A man named William Shaw. He was just a kid when it happened. He barely crawled out of the woods alive…"

"Shaw?" Dean asked and Sam nodded. "He doesn't happen to live on 43rd street does he?" Sam looked down at his computer.

"How could you possibly have known that?" Sam asked. Dean looked out the window to see if the woman from before was still in sight, but she wasn't.

"The woman I was talking to at the bar…she was talking about him on the phone." Sam furrowed his brow.

"Ok that's weird. He must be famous around these parts," Sam suggested. Dean nodded in agreement, but his suspicion was still aroused.

"Ya, well let's get over there and wrap this case up. Whatever is out there isn't going to wait around for us to catch it."


	2. The Wendigo

**A/N And.....here's chapter 2!!!!!!!!!!**

Grace pulled the car to a stop in front of the Shaw house. She didn't exit right away. There was a black impala sitting across the street. The same car the rangers from before were driving. Odd. She pulled up a few houses and turned the engine off.

As she approached the house, she could see the two rangers sitting in the living room with an old man. She ducked beneath the window and listened.

"It got inside our cabin. I was sleeping in front of the fireplace when it came in," the older man, Mr. Shaw, was saying. "It didn't smash a window or break the door, it unlocked it. Do you know of a bear that could do something like that? I didn't even wake up till I heard my parents screaming."

"It killed them?" one of the rangers asked. Grace couldn't tell which one of them has asked, but the conversation was proving to be informative.

"Dragged them off into the night," Mr. Shaw said, his voice cracking. "Why it left me alive…been asking myself that ever since. Did leave me this though." Grace didn't risk looking through the window, but she assumed it was some sort of wound or scar that Mr. Shaw was displaying for them. "There's something evil in those woods. It was some sort of a demon…"

"I think we've taken enough of your time. Thank you Mr. Shaw," one of the rangers said. Grace quickly crawled across the front lawn and back to the car where she sped back to the house.

X

"It's about time you got back," Grace said as Tess came through the front door. She was sitting at the dining room table in front of her open laptop.

"Drop dead," Tess said. She clearly wasn't in a better mood. "The sooner we get out of this town the better."

"What happened?" Grace asked as Tess set a few paper bags on the table. The side read Camping Outlet. Tess began pulling different survival items out of the bags.

"Everywhere I go there's some dumbass who thinks he's God. First I had to tolerate Ranger Joe and his self-righteous Mounty mentality. Then Rico Sauvé at a local bar tried to get all dances with wolves with me, and then this pimple faced punk at the camping outlet has the audacity to ask me if I know how to fire a flare gun!" Tess rambled.

"Deep breaths, the day is over, and I think I may know what we're up against." Tess immediately shook off her temper and leaned over the computer.

"A wendigo, seriously?" Tess asked in surprise. Grace scrolled down the screen on the computer and highlighted new information.

"Well look at the evidence," Grace said. "Blackwater Ridge is on Native American territory and the former inhabitants used to use wards against wendigo. Not only that, but a wendigo has a 23 year hibernation period then it wakes up and hunts for about four months then goes back to sleep."

"Hmm, that seems a little too coincidental. What did that Shaw guy say?" Tess inquired. Grace turned too make sure Hailey and Ben weren't in the room.

"That's the weird thing. These two guys stopped by this afternoon after you called and said they were rangers looking into Tommy's disappearance." Tess raised her eyebrows. "Ya I know, and then when I went to Mr. Shaw's house, they were there questioning him, which wasn't half as weird as the information I overheard. Apparently, whatever attacked his family opened the door to the cabin and dragged both of his parents away as though it were going to…"

"…store them for food," Tess finished. "What about Shaw? Why didn't it go after him too? I mean, wouldn't it make more sense to go for the defenseless kid?"

"I was thinking about that too, but Shaw said that he had fallen asleep in front of the fireplace. As I was researching the wendigo, they can only be killed by fire. It makes sense."

"You're right, it does," Tess agreed. "Alright, we pack up tonight and leave in the morning."

"We're coming with you!" Both women turned to see Ben and Hailey standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hailey, no, it's too dangerous out there," Grace argued. The teen stepped forward with determination and tears in her eyes.

"You don't understand. We're all each other has. You can't stop us, we're coming." Tess stepped toward Hailey then.

"No you aren't," she said with a tone of finality. "We can't risk having you two out there when there might still be a wen..grizzley in the area. Let us handle this." Hailey opened her mouth to argue, but Tess cut her off. "Hailey, enough! Don't forget that Grace and I are officers and if necessary, I will lock you up for the night for obstructing justice." Hailey bit her lip and stormed from the room, Ben sighed and followed after her.

"Tess that wasn't necessary," Grace said after they heard the slamming of a bedroom door. Tess turned, her face stoic.

"Yes it was. You may not agree with my methods, but if it keeps them alive that's all I care about." Grace didn't argue with her sister this time. Instead, she stood and began packing a backpack full of supplied. Neither of them knew that at that moment, the two teenagers upstairs were making a series of phone calls…

X

Tess woke to someone shaking her. She opened her tired eyes and saw Grace hovering over her. Apparently she had fallen asleep at the dining room table.

"Hey, it's almost six, we should get going soon." Tess nodded and wiped a hand over her face as she stood. Grace had always been more of a morning person. She was already dressed in a pair of light wash jeans, a light blue v neck sweater over a white cami and a black silver strand hoodie.

Tess hurried upstairs and into the guest room that Grace had left immaculately clean. She grabbed a black long sleeve shirt from Abercrombie and Fitch along with her medium wash ripped jeans. After securing her long hair into a high ponytail she pulled a white fleece hoodie on and zipped it up.

"What's the game plan?" Grace asked from the doorway as she watched her sister get ready. Tess sat on the edge of the bed and began lacing up her steel toed boots.

"We set up a base camp in the area where the disappearances occurred. We use the wards you found to secure a safe area then begin a search for its lair."

"Sounds good. I packed up all the gear," Grace added. Tess nodded and stood. "I left a note for Ben and Hailey telling them we were going to be in town all day."

"Good, the last thing we need is them following us out there. Who knows how hungry this thing is."

"I'd be pretty hungry if I was about to sleep for 23 years." Tess chuckled and the two sisters slung their backpacks on before leaving the house.

X

Dean and Sam pulled their car to a stop in the clearing before the woods. There were three people standing on the outskirts, two they recognized as Hailey and Ben.

"You guys got room for two more?" Dean asked as the two brothers approached the small group.

"Wait, you want to come with us?" Hailey asked. Both Hailey and Ben looked relieved, but the third person looked peeved.

"Who are these guys?" the other guy asked. He certainly wasn't the friendly type and based on the death glare he was giving Dean and Sam, he wasn't happy about their arrival.

"Apparently this is all the park service could muster up for search and rescue," Hailey said sarcastically.

"You're rangers?" the other guy asked in shock. Dean forced a smile on his face and nodded.

"That's right," Dean answered. Sam walked past him toward Ben with the duffle bag of "supplies" in hand.

"And you're hiking out in biker boots and jeans?" Dean grinned. Hailey was a spitfire and a part of him admired that in her. Plus, she was pretty cute.

"Well sweetheart, I don't do shorts," he winked at her and grinned as Hailey blushed. He would never stop impressing himself with his ability to charm women.

"What, you think this is funny?" the strange man snapped. "Its dangerous backcountry out there, her brother might be hurt." Dean felt a part of his temper rising. Here he was being lectured by some Rambo wanna-be.

"Believe me, I know how dangerous this could get. We just wanna help her find her brother, that's all." Dean was slightly proud of himself for keeping his cool, though he wasn't sure how long he was going to be able to.

X

"This is the last one," Grace said. Tess moved to the next tree and shaved a spot of bark off. While Grace held open a book with a symbol drawn on the page, she carved it into the tree. A few moments later the symbol was complete.

"Let's see if it works," Tess said standing back. She removed her Walther soft air pistol P22, the identical one remaining in its holster on her hip. She took three paces outside the protective ring and turned to a tree inside the ring. _Bang_… The bullet flew from the gun, but as it passed to the ring, an orange light shimmered and the bullet fell to the ground. "Good work, Grace," Tess said with a smile.

"It was pretty easy to find. The Hopi Indians were pretty good about warding away anything that could cause harm; I guess that's why they were known as one of the most peaceful tribes."

"Makes sense, think it will hold up against a wendigo?" Tess inquired. Grace shrugged her shoulders.

"Worked for the Hopi didn't it?" Tess couldn't argue that. She moved over to her backpack and removed a flare gun. "You'd better keep one of these on you too," Tess suggested. "I picked up eight cartridges…"

"Four each," Grace finished. She took the gun and cartridges from Tess and put them in her pocket.

"Help!" Tess stood from her kneeling position and placed a hand on Grace's shoulder. "Help!"

"Don't," Grace warned. "The wendigo can mimic sounds, remember. We need to let it come to us. The creature knows these woods better than we do. We have to draw it into the circle." Tess clenched a fist at her side.

"Let's just hope it doesn't do that all night…" she muttered and began lighting a fire.

X

"One more time that's…" Hailey asked as she sat near the campfire. It had been a long day already. Her worst fears had been realized. Whatever had taken Tommy was now hunting them. It had stolen their packs and there was serious division going on in her camp.

"Anasazi symbols. It's for protection. The wendigo can't cross over them," Dean said absentmindedly as he kept working. Then Roy laughed. Man was that guy annoying. "Nobody likes a skeptic, Roy." Then he noticed Sam sulking. He sighed and walked over to him.

"We should call Tamzin and Grace," Ben whispered. "Maybe they could help." Hailey shook her head.

"This thing sounds pretty dangerous," Hailey answered. "They shouldn't come out here unless it's necessary. I mean, they're just cops."

"But they could call in the SWAT team or something," Ben offered. "Just a suggestion…" Hailey placed a hand over his.

"We'll get through this," she said reassuringly. "We'll find Tommy and everything will be just fine."

"Help me, please!" Hailey jumped to her feet. "Please someone help!" Roy was quick to her side with his gun.

"He's trying to draw us out. Just stay cool, stay put, inside the magic circle," Dean said. Hailey couldn't have moved in that moment if she had wanted to or not. She was too afraid.

"Help, help!" The creature kept calling for help. It was eerie. Then there was a rustling in the trees. Ben grabbed her hand.

"It's ok, you'll be all right I promise," she said gripping his arm tightly. Then she saw a glimpse of it and screamed.

"It's here!" Sam called. Roy began shooting in random directions. Hailey pulled Ben down for fear of either being eaten or shot with a stray bullet.

"I hit it!" Roy called. Hailey watched as Roy ran off into the woods. Dean called after him, but he didn't stop.

"Don't move," he ordered. Hailey nodded, but the two brothers were already running after Roy. "Roy! Roy!" Dean called. They could hear the man's footsteps ahead of them as they continued to chase him. Then silence.

"Where'd he go?" Sam asked as they came to a stop. They both looked around. To their left was nothing but trees and to the right there was a large hedge. A twig snapped. Dean signaled to Sam that the creature was on the other side of the bush. They both pulled out their weapons and got ready.

X

Tess and Grace jumped to their feet as they heard the Wendigo calling for help again. Tess furrowed her brow.

"If it's trying to draw us out, don't you think it would come closer to our camp?" she asked. Then there were gunshots.

"I don't think it's _us_ that it's trying to draw out. Someone else must be out here." Then there was another scream. Both sisters made eye contact.

"Hailey…" they said at the same time. They both grabbed their packs and ran into the woods without a second thought.

"This way," Grace called to Tess as they sprinted among the trees. They could hear voices in the distance. They were getting closer and Tess removed both of her pistols. They stopped in a small clearing as everything went quiet. "Where is it?" Grace asked.

"Shh…" Tess pulled a flashlight out of her bag and shone it up into the trees. She took a step backward and a twig snapped under her boot. As she turned she saw the bush behind her rustle. She signaled for Grace and she nodded. Grace, as quietly as possible, cocked her Umarex soft air shotgun and counted down with her fingers. 3…2…1

The two women jumped around to the other side of the bush at the same time whatever was on the other side did, but it wasn't what they expected. Instead of being a seven foot wendigo, they were faced with two…park rangers?

X

"What the hell?" Sam asked as he looked at the two women. He and Dean were both holding their flare guns at the two women. One of them had a shotgun aimed at Sam and the other had two pistols aimed at Dean.

"Who the hell are you?" the redhead asked. She didn't show signs of lowering her weapons anytime soon.

"Wait a minute," Grace said slightly lowering her shotgun. "Dean…Sam? What are you doing here?"

"You know them?" Tess asked taking a sideways glance at her sister. Grace nodded her head.

"These are the park rangers I told you about. They were the ones I saw at Shaw's house," Grace elaborated.

"What the hell? You stalking us now?" Dean asked. It was then he got a good look at the redhead who still had her guns aimed at him. "Hey wait a minute…"

"Oh God," Tess said in annoyance. "It's the jackass I met at the bar," she sighed and finally lowered her guns. The others followed suit.

"Jackass?" Dean asked in shock. "I resent that." Sam placed a hand on his shoulder to quiet him.

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked Grace. Dean and Tess were still glaring at one another, but Grace and Sam seemed to have come to a sort of resolve.

"We're looking for Tommy," Grace said vaguely. "Aren't you doing the same?" Sam didn't have time to answer however, as all four of them heard a rustling in the trees. All five guns aimed toward the direction the sound came from.

"Woa," Hailey said holding up both hands as she and Ben emerged from the woods. "Take it easy you guys."

"Hailey?" Tess and Dean said at the same time. Hailey dropped her eyes to the ground. Tess and Dean looked at one another in shock. "How do you know Hailey?" they asked, again at the same time.

"Uh, guys, I suggest we take this conversation elsewhere!" Sam suggested as they all heard the scratching of claws against bark.

"This way," Tess called. Grace grabbed Hailey by the arm and began pulling her in the direction Tess was gesturing to.

"No, this way. It's safe over here," Dean argued. Hailey screamed as she saw the wendigo sitting on the branch of tree. Tess turned and fired. The bullet from her gun struck the tree to the left of the wendigo and a shower of fire erupted. The wendigo screamed in fear and leapt upward and out of sight.

"You wanna stay here and argue?" Tess asked angrily. Both Sam and Dean quickly followed Grace and Hailey as they ran into the woods. Sam and Ben followed next and taking the rear were Dean and Tess.

"So what exactly are you?" Dean asked as they ran. Tess chanced a glance at him. As she did, she saw a clawed hand coming out from behind a tree.

"Duck!" she yelled and shoved Dean to the ground. The creature caught her and pulled her backward. The Wendigo tore the backpack off of her and slashed its claw at her which ripped into the flesh of her shoulder. She cried in pain, but a moment later the fire of a flare soared over her head. They heard a screeching and saw a patch of leaves in the distance catch fire.

"Come on," Dean said grabbing her arm and pulling her in the direction the others had run. As they reached the small clearing where the others were gathered, Grace quickly ushered them into the area where they had cleared the leaves.

"How are we safe here?" Ben asked. Tess pulled her arm from Dean's grasp and refused to make eye contact with him.

"The symbols carved into the trees," Sam said as he studied one of them. "They some kind of protection spell?"

"More like a barrier," Tess answered. She removed her jacket and both Grace and Hailey gasped.

"Oh God, you're bleeding!" Hailey screamed. Tess tossed her jacket to the ground and Grace rushed over to her and began examining the wound.

"By marking five points with that symbol, nothing that can cause physical harm can cross through the barrier," Tess said as though she were not bleeding profusely. "Ow!" she said as Grace pulled something out of the wound.

"Well you took one of its claws with you," she said handing it to Tess. Hailey covered her mouth with her hand, tears were leaking from her eyes.

"Hey," Tess said to her. "I'm ok." Hailey collapsed into Tess's arms. She winced in pain, but hugged her back. "It's just a scratch, I promise." Hailey nodded and wiped the tears from under her eyes.

"We'll be safe here for the night," Grace said to everyone. "I suggest we try and get some sleep. We'll figure out what to do in the morning." Ben and Hailey nodded and went to sit by the fire. "Let's get you cleaned up," Grace said in a lower voice. Tess slipped the claw into her jean pocket and took a seat near the base of a tree. Sam and Dean joined them a moment later.

"That looks bad, we should get you to a doctor," Sam suggested. Tess chuckled as Grace removed a sewing kit from her backpack and began lacing a needle. "You've got to be joking. You need a doctor!"

"Will you keep it down!" Tess snapped. Sam looked over his shoulder at where Hailey and Ben were sitting. "They've been through enough; the last thing they need is to worry about me." Tess took a sharp inhalation of breath as the needle pierced her skin.

"Sorry," Grace said apologetically. "You two definitely aren't park rangers, so who are you?" Sam and Dean exchanged glances.

"We're brothers," Dean admitted. "Our dad went missing a few weeks ago and we're looking for him."

"Why didn't you just say so in the first place?" Grace inquired. She tied the suture closed. "Only six this time."

"Really?" Tess asked. "Felt more like eight." Tess shrugged her sweatshirt back on and adjusted her self against the tree.

"You know, we aren't the only ones who haven't been perfectly honest. Seems you two are hiding something, and whatever it is, you seem to have been at it for awhile," Dean rebutted. Grace glanced at Tess who nodded.

"We're Hunters," she said shortly. "We hunt things that try to hurt people, like the thing that's out there now."

"A wendigo," Sam finished. Grace nodded. She opened her mouth to say something, but shut it as Hailey approached the small group.

"Do either of you have anything to eat? Ben's getting hungry and our packs were stolen." Grace stood and took Hailey's arm.

"I do," she answered. "We have a couple packs that we left here. Let me just get something started."

"You guys sure came prepared," Sam said as he watched Grace pull a pot out of a duffle bag and hand Hailey a can of stew.

"Ya, well we weren't sure how long we were going to be out here," Tess replied. "How did you know it was a wendigo?" Tess asked Sam.

"I guess you could say we're in the business of Hunting too. It's sort of in the family." Tess nodded her understanding.

"What exactly was in your gun?" Dean asked. "I've never seen bullets explode like that before." Tess grinned

"They're dipped in thorium," Tess answered. She pulled the clip out of her pistol and removed a bullet. "Carbon casing, it shatters on contact and the thorium ignites when it's exposed to air." Dean took the bullet from her and examined it.

"Tess invented them" Grace said as she joined the group again. She handed each of them a sandwich and knelt next to Tess.

"Hell, I'm impressed. Dad never used anything like this." Dean handed the bullet to Sam who studied the silver bullet.

"So how long have you two been at this anyway?" Sam inquired as he handed the bullet back to Tess who put it back in the clip of her pistol.

"About six years," Grace answered. Tess gave Grace a warning glare that said she was sharing too much information, but Grace ignored her. "What about you?" Sam chuckled and ran a hand through his hair.

"Oh you know…about two weeks," he answered. Tess rolled her eyes as she stood.

"That explains it," she said exasperated. "A couple of novices out here thinking they can handle a wendigo that's been at this for a hundred years or more."

"Novices?" Dean asked as he stood as well. "I've actually been at this longer than you have, sweetheart."

"Oh so you've practiced almost getting yourself killed, that's good to know. Hey, maybe next time just for kicks you can leave me out of it!"

"I was the one saving _your_ ass back there, or did you forget that part!" Their voices were raised to shouting now as they stood in one another's faces.

"Oh ya, you seem to be incredibly concerned with my ass, I forgot that part," Tess snapped back.

"Don't flatter yourself honey, I was trying to get information out of you. It was business, nothing else," Dean argued.

"My timeline is a little hazy…was that before or after you were trying to get laid?" Grace and Dean both grabbed their sibling and pulled them away from one another.

"This isn't helping anything!" Grace snapped. "Will you two please calm down?" Tess and Dean were glaring daggers at one another.

"Dean, can I talk to you for a minute?" Sam asked and without waiting for an answer he pulled Dean to the other side of the clearing.

"Will you please chill out?" Grace begged. "You're going to upset Hailey and Ben. We need to stick together on this one."

"Look its one thing if those two want to go off and get themselves killed, but when they involve the rest of us, it starts to become a bit more of a problem," Tess said in a controlled whisper.  
"You know, he _did_ save your neck back there…" Tess glared at her. "I mean, after you saved him, but still that shows good instinct. They might be new at this, but he didn't run when it got heated. We may not be able to trust their character, but we can at least trust their instincts. And maybe even their intentions. They're looking for their dad, I mean, why else would they be here?"

"Fine, you trust them if you want, but I don't. There's something not right about them, Grace, keep your guard up," Tess advised.

"You know I always do," Grace responded. Tess arched an eyebrow and Grace adverted her eyes.


	3. The Hunt

**A/N Welcome to Chapter 3!**

Tess was the first to wake up in the morning. Normally it would be Grace, but she found it difficult to sleep with the gash in her shoulder. She went over to the fire and stoked it. Hailey and Ben were fast asleep huddled together in the sleeping bags that Grace had brought. Sam was laying with his hands tucked inside his jacket and Grace had her back facing her. Just as Tess began looking for Dean she felt something creep up behind her. She stood quickly and turned with her gun aiming high.

"Jeeze!" Dean said holding both of his hands up in surprise. "You always this cheerful in the morning?" Tess lowered her gun and slipped it back in the holster.

"You startled me is all," she mumbled and went back to stoking the fire. Dean cleared his throat and knelt next to her.

"How's the shoulder?" he inquired as he pretended to warm his hands. Tess gave him a skeptical glare and he grinned.

"Still attached so I can't complain," she answered and Dean chuckled. "So what's up with your brother? He seems a little…I don't know, vacant."

"Sam's been through a lot lately," Dean said vaguely. "He's had a rough couple weeks."

"Yeah? What made you guys become hunters?" It was Dean's turn to look at her skeptically. "Come on, I'm not that dense. Sam said he's been at this a few weeks, you're telling me it's been rough…"

"Well, we've actually been at this a lot longer. Our dad is a Hunter. We were raised on the field. Sam left the business to go to college and a couple weeks ago…someone close to him was killed."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Tess said. She was beginning to get uncomfortable. She hadn't expected his answer to be so personal. Grace was the compassionate one, not her.

"Yeah well," Dean said. He grinned as he looked at Tess. "It's been hard on both of us. Sometimes…" Dean made a dramatic sigh, "it gets lonely out here on the field, you know? Sometimes, I just want someone to hold…"

"God you really are a jackass!" Tess snapped. She stood and walked away from him. Dean chuckled and began munching on his peanut m&m's. "Grace, hey Grace wake up," Tess whispered as she shook her sister's shoulder. Grace rolled onto her back and Tess smiled down at her. "Have the dream again?"

"It was beautiful Tess, you should have seen it. Tall mountains, crystal clear waters, the same rickety old dock…" Grace smiled, but Tess's faltered.

"Come on," she said standing and extending a hand to her sister. "The dream is over, time to face reality." Grace nodded somberly and let Tess help her to her feet.

"I don't…I mean these types of things they aren't supposed to be real," Hailey said. She and Ben had obviously woken up and were talking with Sam and Dean.

"I wish I could tell you different," Dean said and to Tess' surprise, he actually sounded genuine.

"How do we know it's not out there watching us?" Hailey was looking around nervously as though the wendigo were going to jump out at her any moment.

"We don't. But we're safe for now." Dean placed a hand on Hailey's shoulder. Grace and Tess exchanged looks. There was obviously some kind of connection that Dean and Hailey shared. It was amazing how near death experiences could draw people close together.

"Hey. So we've got half a chance in the daylight. And I, for one, want to kill this evil son of a bitch," Sam chimed in.

"Fire is the only thing that's going to stop this thing," Grace said. "Tess and I have two flare guns. You guys can take those, Tess and I have plenty of thorium bullets left."

"Actually, we have about six left," Tess added. Grace turned to her in shock. "Hey, I made plenty, but Rico Sauvé over there took off before I could get my bag back from the wendigo."

"Oh excuse me for saving your life, I'll try to be more considerate next time," Dean argued.

"Enough!" Grace snapped. "It's fine. We only need one good shot and I still have my cartridges." Tess rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest.

"I still don't understand. What is this thing? Like is it some kind of like… werewolf or something?" Ben asked.

"I guess you could say that," Dean replied with a shrug. "A wendigo is hundreds of years old. Each one was once a man. Sometimes an Indian, other times a frontiersman or a miner or a hunter."

"Where do they come from? I mean, how does a man turn into a-a wendigo?" Hailey inquired.

"Well it's always the same. During some harsh winter a guy finds himself starving, cut off from supplies or help. Becomes a cannibal to survive, eating other members of his tribe or camp."

"Like the Donnor Party?" Ben asked and Dean nodded. "You mean that a man turns into a wendigo just by eating people?"

"Cultures all over the world believe that eating human flesh gives a person certain abilities. Speed, strength, immortality," Sam explained.

"If you eat enough of it, over years, you become this less than human thing. You're always hungry," Dean explained further. Hailey sniffled.

"So if that's true," she said looking from Dean to Tess then to Grace and back to Dean, "how can Tommy still be alive?" no one answered at first.

"More than anything, a wendigo knows how to last long winters without food. It hibernates for years at a time, but when it's awake it keeps its victims alive. It uh, stores them, so it can feed whenever it wants," Grace said in as gentle of a voice as she could.

"If your brother's alive it's keeping him somewhere dark, hidden and safe. We gotta track it back there," Tess added.

"Well, hell you know I'm in," Dean said as Grace handed him the flare guns. He tossed one to Sam.

"What do you want us to use?" Hailey asked. All eyes turned to her and Ben. Tess stepped around her as she loaded her pistol.

"Nothing, you aren't coming. You'll be safe inside the circle until we get back," Tess said sternly.

"You can't stop me!" Hailey argued. Tess turned on her heel and raised an eyebrow. "I'll-we'll just follow you when you leave."

"I could shoot you in the leg," Tess offered and Hailey took a step backward. Grace stepped between the two.

"No one is shooting anyone. Tess can I talk to you?" Tess reluctantly followed Grace a few steps away from the group. "We should just let her come. If we leave them here, the wendigo is going to find a way in the circle and they'll be defenseless. If we bring them with us we can keep an eye on them." Tess sighed in frustration.

"Fine," she relented. "Here's the deal." Tess called. "Hailey you stick close to me, Ben you don't leave Grace's sight. If we come across the wendigo you drop to the ground and don't move a muscle, got it?" Hailey nodded. "Keep your eyes open."

"We'll keep an eye on them too," Dean said in a whisper as he came alongside of Tess. She eyed him and he smiled genuinely.

"Just try and stay out of my way, Rookie," Tess said and took several paces in front of him. Hailey stood beside Dean as he stood baffled.

"Don't mind her," Hailey said gently. "Tess isn't a very friendly person sometimes." Dean chuckled as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah I got that impression," he said casually. "What's their story anyway? Your cousins I mean." Hailey smiled bitterly and turned her eyes to Grace and Tess.

"I don't know much about how they grew up. I know that their parents abandon them in an orphanage when they were five. When they were ten my aunt and uncle adopted them. I first met them at a family reunion about ten years ago. We've been pretty close ever since. Then after my parents died…Grace and Tess were always there for us."

"And you didn't know they were hunters?" Dean asked. Hailey's face went from soft to almost hurt. "I'll take that as a 'no'."

"They told us they were detectives, private investigators even. I can't believe they didn't tell me…" Dean placed a hand on Hailey's shoulder.

"Look, I've been at this for awhile and there are a few things you pick up on the job. The more people who know who you are and what you do, the more people tend to get hurt. I think if anything, your cousins were just trying to keep you and your brothers safe."

"Look at this!" Grace called. She was kneeling next to a tree and running her fingers along the trunk where a patch of bark had been removed.

"Thanks Dean," Hailey said and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. He grinned and stepped up to the trunk of the tree next to Sam.

"Looks like claw marks. We must be on the right track," Sam said stating what everyone was thinking.

"Somehow, I'm not comforted by that," Ben stated. Tess gripped his shoulder and urged the group forward as she took the lead. They laboriously followed the clawed trees until they reached a small clearing.

"They just stop," Grace said trailing off as she examined a nearby tree. "I don't like the looks of this."

"Dean," Sam called and his brother walked over to him. "You know…I was thinking…those claw prints…so clear and distinct, they were almost too easy to follow."

"Think it's a trap?" Grace asked as she overheard the brothers talking. Before her question could be answered, they all distinctly heard the wendigo growling. Four guns immediately shot out as they examined their surroundings.

"Hailey, Ben, get down," Tess snapped. Then she heard Hailey scream. Grace and Tess turned in time to see a body fall from the trees. Hailey rolled out of the way in time as the body slammed to the ground. Hailey clamored to her feet and clutched Grace's arm.

"His neck's broke. Okay run, run, run, go, go!" Dean yelled. His raised voice sent everyone into a panic as they sprinted from the clearing. Grace pulled Hailey along as Dean took up the rear.

"Tess!" Ben called as he tripped. She turned on her heel and grabbed Ben by the back of the shirt and hauled him to his feet.

"Come on," Sam said as he placed a hand on both of their backs and urged them forward.

"Where are Grace and Hailey?" Tess asked as she noticed they weren't with them. Then another scream.

"Hailey!" Ben yelled and began running in the direction the scream came from. Sam and Tess were following closely behind him. There was the sound of a gunshot.

"Grace…" Tess whispered. "Grace where are you!" Tess yelled. Her question was answered as Sam and Ben stopped in front of her. She pushed them aside and saw Grace laying face down in the dirt. "Grace!" Tess nearly screamed and ran to her sister.

"I'm alright," Grace groaned as Tess rolled her onto her back. The left side of Grace's face was bruised and red.

"What happened?" Sam asked. "Where are Dean and Hailey?" Grace sat up and wiped her face with the back of her hand.

"It got them…I tried to get a shot off, but it grabbed Hailey. Tess, I-I didn't want to hit her." Grace was starting to cry; Tess could hear it in her voice.

"It's ok, we'll find them," Tess said and helped Grace to her feet. "Did you see what way it went?" Grace shook her head.

"Over here," Ben said as he held something in his hand. "They went this way." He showed the small blue m&m to the three adults who all grinned.

"It's better than bread crumbs," Sam said with a chuckle. He took the lead followed by Ben and then Grace and Tess. Grace sniffled and wiped at her red, puffy eyes.

"Hey, come on, shake it off," Tess said in a monotone voice. "You need to keep your head if we're going to find them." Grace nodded and sniffled again. Tess wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave them a light squeeze.

X

"This looks like the place," Grace said stepping up next to Ben. They stood outside an old mine shaft with several warning signs and rickety, decaying boards trying to prevent anyone from getting in. Sam climbed over the fallen debris first then Grace, Ben and lastly Sam helped Tess over.

"What the…" Ben said as he pulled his hand away from the cave wall. When he looked at his hand it was covered in a red sticky substance. "Blood," he whispered showing his hand to the other three.

"Ben, it doesn't mean anything," Grace said quickly as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Shh!" Tess snapped. They all listened and heard the low growl of the wendigo. Grace pulled Ben into a crevice in the wall and covered his mouth with her hand. Sam and Tess retreated to the other side of the cave in the shadows. The creatures lurked past them, its gaze focused straight ahead. It wasn't until the creature was well out of sight that the four of them emerged.

"That was close," Grace said as she released Ben. "We'd better find Hailey, Tommy and Dean before that thing gets back." Sam stood next to her and shone his flashlight ahead of them.

"Ok…left or right?" he asked looking down at Grace. The two tunnels that lay ahead of them were both equally dark and murky with moss and roots hanging from the cavern roof.

"Let's split up," Tess suggested. "Grace you and Sam take the left, Ben and I will go right."

"Do you really think that's the best idea?" Ben asked the fear in his voice clearly evident. "I mean wouldn't it be safer if we stayed together?"

"No matter what we do that _thing_ is eventually going to come back so there is no such thing as _safe_ in these woods."

"God Tess, cryptic much?" Grace reprimanded. Tess rolled her eyes and made to brush past Sam.

"No, I'll go first," he said and as he took a step forward the ground beneath him gave away. The splintering and cracking of wood disturbed the air and echoed off the walls.

"Grace!" Tess yelled as she saw her sister sinking into the chasm that had opened in front of them. Tess dove forward and barely managed to grab hold of Grace's wrist. "Hold on!" she called and dug the toes of her boots into the ground so she would stop sliding forward on her stomach.

"Ben, Sam, are you ok?" Grace called as she struggled to hold onto Tess' hand. She could hear Ben beneath her cry out.

"Hey, its ok, its ok, relax," Sam said undoubtedly to Ben. "Yeah, we're fine," Sam called up to her. "The fall isn't that far."

Tess made brief eye-contact with Grace who nodded and released her. Grace made to land on solid ground but instead she hit something that crumbled beneath her. She instinctively closed her eyes and when she opened them she saw she was lying on top of someone…no, she was lying on top of Sam.

"Oh, God, sorry," she said and made to get up, but Sam's eyes widened and he gripped her around the waist and rolled to the left taking her with him. A moment later Tess landed on the ground where the two had been laying.

"You ok?" Tess asked Ben who was watching the happenings with a furrowed brow. He looked up at Tess and nodded. "Where are Grace and…" she looked over her shoulder and saw Sam lying on top of Grace. "You guys coming or do you need a room?" she snapped.

"Shut up Tess," Grace said with flushed cheeks as Sam stood and helped her to her feet. "You could have given us some warning!"

"Gee, you're right I should have yelled really loud and drawn attention to us, because it's not like we're trying to sneak around a dark cave and avoid a flesh eating wendigo or anything," Tess replied sarcastically. Grace opened her mouth to argue back but a loud gasp from Ben drew their attention.

"Hailey!" he called. As the sisters turned they saw several cocoon-like objects hanging like stalactites from the ceiling. Ben was standing under the closest one and Sam was beneath the one to their left.

"Dean," he said as he shook his brother. Dean opened his eyes groggily and winced as though in pain. "Hey, you ok?"

"Yeah," he said as Sam began cutting him down. Tess and Grace were helping Ben get Hailey down. After shaking off the blood rush, Hailey stumbled over to another cocoon.

"Tommy," she said and tears sprang to her eyes. She tentatively reached a hand out toward him but before her fingers touched his face, his eyes snapped open. Hailey screamed in shock and jumped back. "Cut him down!" she practically ordered. Grace cut away the sticky substance and Ben and Tess helped Tommy to his feet. As soon as his feet were on the ground, Hailey simultaneously grabbed hold of Tommy, Ben, and Grace as the four of them embraced.

"You still alive?" Dean asked sarcastically. Tess turned her attention from the four to Dean who was brushing his sleeves off.

"Don't sound so excited," Tess said sarcastically. "You're welcome, by the way, for saving your neck."

"Yeah, remind me to thank you later," he said with a wink. Tess rolled her eyes and turned away from him.

"That's definitely something I'm going to _forget_ to do," she muttered. "Come on, we need to keep moving." Tommy put an arm around Hailey and Ben's shoulders as they helped him to walk. They had barely made it from the tunnel into another one before they heard the growl of the wendigo.

"Looks like someone's home for supper," Dean said turning first to Sam then to Tess who were leading the group through the tunnel.

"We'll never outrun it," Hailey declared. Dean turned to look at her as though finally surveying the situation. There was no way they could outrun it even if Tommy was fully capable of walking on his own.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Dean asked looking back at Sam. He silently nodded and caught Tess' gaze.

"What are you planning?" she asked almost in dread of hearing the answer. "Never mind, whatever it is, the answer is no."

"Wait, what are you doing?" Hailey asked. Dean glanced back at her and winked before turning back to Sam and Tess. He blew right past them ignoring the glare that Tess had on her face.

"Chow time you freaky bastard!" he yelled as he ran down the right side of the tunnel. "Yeah that's right, bring it on baby, I'm feeling good."

"All right come on. Hurry!" Sam yelled. Ben, Grace, Hailey, and Tommy didn't hesitate to follow orders as they rushed down the left tunnel. "Tess, come on!" Sam called as he saw her hesitate.

"Damnit," she swore and followed after the group. It wasn't in her nature to let someone else play the hero and she found a new contempt toward Dean for thinking up the plan before her.

"Looks like your plan is backfiring," Grace called back to them. As Sam and Tess caught up to them they could hear the growling of the wendigo following them.

"Alright go, get them out of here," he said to Grace. They hesitated and Hailey voiced her protest.

"Sam, we're not leaving you here alone," Grace objected. Tess found her mind reeling. She couldn't leave Sam and Dean alone in the cave, but with Tommy injured, they were nothing but bait.

"I'll stay," she quickly volunteered. "Grace, get them out of the cave, Sam and I will hold it off." Grace reluctantly nodded and ushered the three siblings from the small chamber they had paused in.

"You should go too," Sam said turning to Tess. She glared at him and he didn't argue any further. There was a loud snarl and both of them aimed their gun toward the tunnel where it came from.

Tess felt something brush behind her, but before she could even fire a shot, she was thrown into the wall of the cave. Sam turned and came face to face with the wendigo. He fired his gun but the wendigo hit his hand in time so the flare went over its head. Sam was knocked to the ground and the wendigo turned to follow after the group of four that had departed.

"No!" Tess yelled as she jumped to her feet and stood between the wendigo and the tunnel. The wendigo growled and lunged for her. Before Tess could get a shot off, it had tackled her. Tess abandoned her gun as she struggled to keep the wendigo from clawing her face off. "Sam, where the hell are you!" She felt something poking in her side and remembered the claw in her pocket. After a moment of quick planning, she slammed her forehead in the face of the wendigo. It was momentarily distracted so she grabbed the claw from her pocket and stabbed it into the eye of the wendigo. It screamed in pain and she scrambled away from the wendigo

"Move," someone yelled and Tess immediately jumped away from the wendigo and slammed her back against the cave wall. There was a burst of fire that struck the wendigo in the stomach. It screamed in pain as the flames engulfed the creatures and it fell to ashes on the cave floor.

"Not bad huh?" Dean asked with a wink as he looked down at Tess. She was breathing heavily and her shoulder was bleeding again.

"Took you long enough," she griped as Sam helped her to her feet. "Where the hell were you?" she asked in annoyance. "Forget it, let's get out of here."

"Grateful little thing isn't she," Dean said eliciting a smile and a chuckle from Sam.

X

"Ow!" Tess snapped as she sat in the back end of an ambulance. An EMT was leaning over her and trying to clean the wound in her shoulder.

"Well it wouldn't hurt so badly if you'd let us take you back to the hospital," the EMT argued.

"Yeah right, I've seen how this town works with disasters, you really think I'm going to trust your hospitals? Never mind," she groaned and pushed the EMT away as she shrugged her jacket back on. The EMT gave up and shook his head.

"That's when it circled the campsite; I mean this grizzly must have weighed 800-900 pounds," Ben told a police officer. He made brief eye contact with Grace and she winked at him.

"So I don't know how to thank you," Hailey said approaching Dean. A small twinge of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Must you cheapen the moment?"

"Yeah," he said nodding his head. Hailey bit the inside of her lower lip; his charm undoubtedly had an effect on her.

"You riding with your brother?" an EMT asked as she approached the two of them. Hailey tore her eyes off Dean and turned to the man.

"Yeah, I'm coming," she answered. "Ben, let's go," she called. Ben nodded and moved away from the officer with a thank you. She turned back to Dean and tried to hide her blush as she kissed him on the cheek. Without lingering, she turned and moved toward Ben who was waiting for her. "Thanks Sam," she said as she walked past him.

"Damnit, no, Grace, Jesus Christ…" both brothers turned and saw Grace dragging Tess, literally, toward them. They stopped a few feet short of them and Tess ripped her arm from her sister's surprisingly strong grip.

"We're heading out in a few minutes," Grace said in hopes of starting a conversation. "We thought we'd just come and say thanks." When Tess didn't say anything Grace elbowed her and Tess forced a small smile. "We may not have been able to do this without you…"

"We wouldn't?" Tess asked in shock. Grace gave her a glare and Tess snorted before folding her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, same to you," Sam said politely. "You guys sure know your stuff." Grace smiled appreciatively.

"Well as much as I love goodbyes, let's cut this short. We have places to be," Tess interrupted.

"We do?" Grace asked skeptically. Tess glared at her and Grace rolled her eyes before turning back to the brothers.

"Anyway, thanks again. Maybe we'll be seeing you guys around sometime, you know?" she asked.

"Let's not push it, Grace," Tess added. Grace shook hands with Sam and then Dean before walking away. "Yeah well…bye," was all Tess said before following her sister. Sam chuckled and rolled his eyes, but Dean watched her walk away for a moment before walking after her and catching her arm. Tess stopped, turned to him, and looked down at her arm where he was holding her. "Yes?"

"Dropped this," he said removing something from his coat pocket. Tess removed her eyes from his long enough to see one of her pistols in his outstretched hands. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly. How had he…? "Anyway, see you around, Tess." He grinned and winked at her before he turned his back on her and walked away.

"Um…er…thanks?" she said pathetically. She mentally kicked herself and slipped the gun back into its holster.

"What was that about?" Grace asked from the passenger seat of the truck as Tess climbed into the driver's side.

"Nothing," she mumbled. A momentary silence passed as Tess watched Ben, Hailey, and Tommy sitting in the back of an ambulance. "You know, we did a good thing," she said suddenly.

"Yeah we did," Grace said with a small smile. "You're not starting to go soft on me now, are you?" Grace asked with a chuckle.

"Shut up, Grace," Tess muttered as she pulled her sunglasses off the dashboard and placed them on her face. The truck roared to life as she turned the key and sped off down the highway.


	4. Skin

**A/N Pretty short chapter, but it serves its purpose.**

St. Louis, Missouri

A young blonde woman was tied to a chair. Her naturally beautiful face was stained with tears and fresh blood. Her shoulders were slumped as she trembled. A man stood a few feet away, examining a knife closely.

Neither of them knew it at the moment, but outside the house, a police force clad in black body gear with heavy guns were making their way inside after shooting the lock off of the door.

In the bedroom, the woman tried to scream, but the shady man covered her mouth to stifle the sound. As the police scoured the house, they noted bloodstains on the walls, thrown over furniture…all the makings of a crime scene. As they entered the bedroom they saw the woman tied to the chair. An officer rushed to her side and began untying her.

"It's ok. It's ok," he tried to console. As he untied her wrists, she extended a trembling hand to the door of another room.

"In there! In there!" she cried. The officers in the room immediately held their guns ready as they moved onto the balcony. The shady man was still standing there with his back facing the officers.

"Freeze! Don't move! Drop the knife. Keep your hands where I can see 'em. Do it!" The officer yelled. The man turned, a smarmy grin on his face; a face that looked remarkably like none other than Dean Winchester.

X

Tess was laying with her cowboy hat over her face as she napped in the driver's seat of the car. The car was parked in a gravel parking lot belonging to a highway motel with an adjoining restaurant.

Tess pulled the hat off her face as Grace climbed into the passenger side of the car. She handed Tess a Styrofoam cup of coffee as she sipped her own.

"Anything?" Tess asked. Grace flipped open her laptop and scanned the open homepage. Tess took another long drink of coffee as she waited for an answer.

"Well, the guy inside said there had been a series of disappearances in Georgia near the border. I guess his sister-in-law has become paranoid and put bars on the windows…wait a minute." Grace typed a few things into the computer. And pulled up a screen and turned it to face Tess.

"Shit," Tess said shaking her head. A large picture with the words WANTED written underneath it.

"It can't be true, Tess, there has to be some sort of mistake." Whether Tess believed her or not, she set her coffee aside and started the car. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking…" Tess started. "I've never hunted a human before, but someone has to do it." Grace didn't say anything as Tess pulled out of the parking lot and started her drive toward St. Louis.

X

"Tess, how are we going to find Dean if even the police can't?" Grace asked as Tess scoured a city map.

"Look at this," Tess said completely ignoring Grace's question. "All of the attacks have happened within a five block radius."

"What do you mean, _attacks_? I thought we were looking for Dean?" Grace stepped up beside Tess as she glanced at the map sprawled on the hood of the truck.

"We are…at least I think we are." Grace raised her eyebrows at Tess. "Look, in the last week there have been three attacks. One by a college student named Zack, who apparently attacked his girlfriend. Then a few days later, a husband, who was supposedly on a business trip, attacked his wife. Then two days ago, the incident with Dean attacking a woman named Rebecca who, and get this, is Zack's sister."

"Ok," Grace said nodding. "That does sound a little suspicious. Any ideas what exactly this might be?"

"Well, based on the reports, I'm thinking it might be a shape-shifter. All of the reports have claims from someone either in the immediate family or a family friend claiming that the accused was somewhere else at the time of the murders."

"Ok, so the usual asking around getting some evidence and then making an attack plan?" Grace asked rhetorically, but when she moved to the cab of the car Tess caught her arm.

"Not this time, Grace," she said in a lower, more serious tone. "Look, we need to find Dean and Sam _now_. We can't waste time trying to reaffirm our story. If it really is a shape-shifter that has been killing people…Dean may not be alive anymore. So whatever is walking around with his face needs to be stopped before it hurts someone else." Grace nodded.

"Ok," she said solemnly, "You're right. So where do you think Sam and Dean are? I mean…assuming that they're still…"

"I'll go scope out the house of the latest victim, the woman who claimed it was Dean who attacked her. If anything, Dean's going to want revenge for getting caught. Why don't you ask around and see if anyone has seen their black impala?"

"Sounds good," Grace agreed. They went around to the bed of the truck and Tess pulled her key chain out. She clicked a button and the bed of the truck began lifting away from the steel frame. Underneath was a rather extensive armory of weapons and ammunition built into the frame and underside of the bed.

"Here," Tess said handing Grace one of her pistols. They loaded them with silver bullets and Tess slipped hers into the back of her jeans while Grace tucked hers into a holster inside her jacket.

"Text me every hour and let me know if you find anything and I'll do the same," Grace suggested. "Be careful, Tess," Grace said more seriously. Tess grinned and handed her the keys.

"Same to you." Tess didn't glance back as she took off on foot and Grace sighed before slipping into the driver's side of the vehicle.

X

It took Grace nearly three hours to find the impala. The city was significantly larger than their average 'small town' where catastrophes usually happened. The black car was parked on the side of the street and looked abandoned.

_Tess, found the car, but it's empty. Want me to scope out the inside?_ Grace hit the send button and waited for a reply.

_Looks like we're playing a waiting game. I'm at the woman's apartment. It's all quiet here. Just keep your eyes open._ Tess replied.

_Ok, keep me updated._ Grace tucked her phone back into her pocket and rested her arms on the steering wheel. Waiting was something she was good at. She just hoped it wasn't in vain.

X

Tess stood outside the apartment in an alley leaning against the wall with her hands tucked inside her jacket pockets. It was starting to get late, the sky was already darkening and the temperature was dropping. It was still early in the autumn as wasn't terribly cold, but Tess was growing restless. Waiting was her least favorite part of the job. She wasn't a patient person.

There was movement, then, and Tess perked up. There was a woman who looked familiar entering the apartment. Tess pulled the printed picture out of her pocket. It was her. The victim: Rebecca.

The blonde woman closed the door behind her a moment later a light flickered on inside the kitchen. Tess, as inconspicuously as she could, walked to the front door and tried the doorknob. Locked.

She felt her phone vibrate and she pulled it out expecting a text message from Grace, but when she looked at the screen, she saw that Grace was calling her.

"What is it?" Tess asked as she pressed the receiving end to her ear. There was ragged breathing on the other end. "Grace?"

"Yeah, I'm here," Grace said suddenly and Tess sighed in relief. "Some cops showed up at the car and were trying to break into it. Then Sam showed up out of nowhere, it looks like they're questioning him in a side alley not far from the car. Tess…Dean's here. He opened the back end of the car and pulled out some weapons…I think he's planning something…wait…" Tess could hear some static on the other end. "What in the world…Tess, Dean just slipped into a manhole in the middle of the road."

"What? Seriously?" Tess asked in shock. "Are you positive?" There was the sound of a car door slamming. "What are you doing."

"Looks like the police are releasing Sam. I'm going to follow Dean and see what he's up to," Grace said in a hushed voice.

"No, Grace, it could be dangerous. You should talk to Sam and see if he knows anything. Fill him in on our theory, something, just don't follow Dean."

"Uhg…" Grace was breathing heavily again. "Too late, I'm in the sewer. Man it smells disgusting in here…oh gross…looks like….goo."

"Grace?" Tess asked. She pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at it. The call had been dropped. She sighed in frustration. "Damnit," she scoffed and slipped the phone into her pocket. She stepped back into the alley and debated whether or not she should try and find Grace and Dean or not, but decided to stay put and wait to hear back from her.

X

Grace glared at her cell phone as it lost signal and stuffed it into her pocket before removing her gun from its holster. The dank walls of the sewer stood on either side of her and she moved quickly. She could hear footsteps up ahead of her. As the light of an overhead manhole shone through, she could see Dean's back, but as quickly as she saw him, he disappeared around a corner. Grace approached cautiously and peeked around the corner. He was standing in a small side chamber of the sewer and looking around with his gun aimed high. She ducked out of sight as he turned in her direction.

Her breathing was becoming heavier. She was getting scared. No Tess to watch her back this time. She was on her own. Grace took one last deep breath and jumped around the corner with her gun held firmly in place.

"Hold it Dean!" she said in a strong voice. Dean was momentarily caught off guard as he heard his name shouted from behind him. He turned and saw the least likely person standing in the entryway.

"Grace?" he asked almost with a hint of a chuckle. Her stern face and tightly set jaw threw him off. "What are you doing here?"

"Tracking a murderer," she said flatly. "I hear you've been busy…" Dean sighed and held his hands up. "Care to explain yourself?" she asked with raised eyebrows. Dean stopped himself from grinning. She was cute when she was serious.

"It might sound a little farfetched, but there's a shape-shifter walking around with my face on. I didn't try to kill anyone, Grace, I promise."

"If there _is_ a shape-shifter, how do I know that _you_ aren't the shape-shifter?" Dean looked as though he were thinking about it for a moment.

"You don't," he said truthfully. "I came down here looking for the shape-shifter myself…how do I know _you_ aren't the shape-shifter?" Grace furrowed her brow.

"So I guess we're at a stand still," she relented and lowered her weapon. "Guess we'll just have to keep an eye on one another." Dean nodded. There was a groan to their left and they both snapped their heads. Something was moving under a white sheet. Dean looked to Grace for a second before moving toward it and pulling the sheet off.

"Rebecca?" he asked in surprise. Grace recognized the young woman from the news as the woman Dean had attacked. "What happened?" he asked as he began untying her.

"I was walking home, and everything just went white. Someone hit me over the head, and I ended up here just in time to see that thing turn into me. I don't know, how is that even possible?" the woman was frantic.

"Okay, okay. It's okay," he said as he finished untying her. "Come on. Can you walk?" the woman nodded and Dean helped her to her feet.

"Who are you?" the woman asked with fear in her voice. Grace lowered her weapon she hadn't realized she had raised toward her.

"Relax, she's a friend…I think," Dean said with a skeptical look. "We don't have time to talk. Sam went to your place," he said to Rebecca.

"Tess is there too," Grace added with wide eyes. She stepped aside as Dean helped Rebecca out of the small room. They walked quickly in the sewer and Dean stepped up next to Grace.

"This doesn't change anything," she said keeping her eyes focused straight ahead and her hand wrapped around the handle of the pistol. "For all I know you were about to kill her before I arrived."

"Same for you," he said quietly. "That thing loaded with silver bullets?" he asked and Grace nodded. "Good…we're going to need them."

X

Tess was glad she had decided to stay at the apartment when she saw Sam arrive. The woman let him inside and much to Tess' aggravation; the front door was locked behind them. She slipped around the back of the house and pulled the fire-escape ladder down. She quietly climbed up to the balcony and tried the back door. Locked. She sighed and knelt down pulling a bobby pin from her hair she bent it out of place and slipped it inside the lock.

There was a crash from inside and Tess cursed. She couldn't see through the window as the curtains were drawn but there was clearly a struggle going on inside. Then silence.

Tess nearly cursed as the vibrating of her phone startled her. Tess quickly pulled her phone out and pressed it to her ear as she resumed her lock picking. It was Grace.

"Where the hell have you been? Did something happen? Did you find Dean?" Tess asked quickly. She was continuing to fire off questions, but Grace interrupted her.

"Yeah, I found him…at least I think it's him. We're on our way back to the woman Rebecca's apartment. You won't believe it, but we found her in the sewer"

"What? No way…she's here in the apartment." There was silence on the other end followed by some muffled clicking. "Grace?"

"Hey Sunshine, it's me," came a masculine voice. Tess could feel her eyes rolling instinctively. "Looks like we have two Rebeccas and I'm banking the one we found tied up in the sewer is the real one."

"Makes sense," Tess said in a whisper as she struggled with the stubborn lock. "I'll handle it from here."

"Nice try Ace, but this one's mine. It's personal this time," Dean practically growled into the phone. "You just make sure that thing doesn't lay a hand on my brother. We're almost there."

"Lesson number one, Rookie," Tess bit back. "There's no room for _personal_ in this line of work. And you'd better hurry, sounds like the party started without us." She clicked her phone shut and stuffed it in her pocket.

Her eye caught something protruding from the side of the house and grinned. She pulled out her pocket knife and pried open the power box. After momentarily considering what color wire to cut, she ripped all of them from their jack.

The lights inside went out and then there was a gun shot. Tess didn't hesitate to fire her gun at the glass door. It shattered and Tess climbed inside. She slammed the bedroom door open and saw several shadows moving around as well as the sound of a scuffle.

She fired another shot in the air and the movement ceased. A light shone in her eyes and Tess turned her gun toward the light. It was Grace.

"Good timing," Grace said sarcastically. She stood beside her sister and handed her the flashlight. Tess shone it around and caught sight of the wounded Sam. "Oh God!" Grace said and she and Rebecca rushed to his side.

"No one move!" Tess ordered. She mentally counted. One…Two, three, four, five…six? "My worst nightmare," she said as her light caught something suspicious. Two Dean Winchesters standing side by side, one with a bloody lip, the other a bloody nose.

"Tess, hey come on," the one with the bloody nose said as she aimed her pistol at him. "You can't honestly think _I'm_ the bastard who tried to kill Rebecca do you?"

"Any suggestions, guys?" Tess asked as she moved her gun from one to the other. No one spoke so she chanced a glance at them.

"It's no use questioning them; the shape-shifter downloaded our thoughts. He knows everything that Dean does," Sam said with a wince as he sat up.

"Everything except our last phone conversation," Tess said turning back to the two Deans. "Well?" she asked expectantly. Neither of them spoke. "Talk or I shoot both of you!" she snapped.

"Hey, Ace, take is easy there," the one farthest to the left said as he wiped his lip. "Having a gun aimed in your face doesn't exactly make someone talkative."

"Why don't you just shut up," the other Dean said. "Stop acting like me. Tess, come on, seriously, it's me!"

"Nice try," the other Dean interrupted. "Why don't you just shoot both of us and get this guy to shut up."

"What the hell is wrong with you!" the second Dean argued. "I don't feel like getting shot, today." The one farthest to the left slightly lowered his hands.

"See," he said as though he'd proven a point. "You _know_ I have a hero complex. I'd definitely be willing to get shot to stop this bastard. I mean, he's been walking around with my face on and he beat up my brother. Why wouldn't I do everything I could to…" _Bang_. The Dean didn't get to finish his rambling as a silver bullet lodged in his chest. It shrieked and crumbled to the floor.

"Holy shit," Dean said as he jumped away from the dying shape-shifter. Tess stood over it and it grinned up at her.

"You know, if anything makes this suck less, I'm getting shot by a woman with a really nice…"_Bang_. Another bullet to the heart and it died.

"Let's get you cleaned up," Rebecca said as she and Grace helped Sam to his feet. Dean leaned over the body of the shape-shifter and pulled the gold chain from around its neck before pocketing it.

"Nice shot," he said looking up at Tess. She was cleaning the blood splatter off of her gun and looked up at him as he grinned. "So what gave it away?" She shrugged and put the gun back into her jeans. "Wait…you, you knew I was the real Dean right?"

"Oh," Tess said with an obviously forced smile. "Of course I did." She turned her back on him and began following the others outside.

"Wait, Tess, you-you're just kidding right, I mean you knew that wasn't me!"

"I was pretty sure."

"How much is pretty sure?" he said grabbing her arm and stopping her. She turned to face him a glint in her eye.

"Dean, just drop it. I was right wasn't I?" she said trying to keep the smile from her face.

"How sure?" he asked with a stern brow. Tess chuckled and gave his cheek a light pat.

"About fifty percent," she said with a tone of finality. She turned again and brushed out the door. Dean smiled.

"She's joking," he said reassuring himself. "I know it, you're just joking!" he called after her, but his smile faltered. "Wait, you _are_ joking right?"

X

"I'm glad it turned out to be a shape-shifter and not your brother," Grace said as she handed Sam an ice pack. Sam smiled appreciatively as he leaned against the side of Tess' truck that was parked at a local hotel.

"So, I have to ask," he chimed in as a police officer passed them. "How did you and Tess hear about the attacks? I mean, the news only released the information about Dean yesterday morning. You guys got here pretty quickly."

"Well we were in the area and…" she paused and began pulling something out of her satchel bag. "Let me show you something." She set her laptop on the hood of the car and turned it on. The screen immediately popped a wireless internet window open.

"_S.H.I.P.: Supernatural Hunting and Investigating the Paranormal_?" Sam read aloud from the webpage. Grace nodded as he continued to glance over the screen.

"It's a webpage that Tess and I made a year after we first started hunting. You wouldn't believe how many hits we get a day. Granted most of them are bogus, but there are a lot of people out there who need help," Grace said and looked up at Sam who was intently studying the program.

"What's this?" he asked as he clicked on the 'Management' section. He opened it up and a picture of a large map opened up. There were dozens of colored dots marked on different states in the US.

"Tess and I have run into our fair share of hunters over the years. This is sort of a network we've set up so we can keep in contact with them. Several of them are people we've helped over the years turned Hunter. They wanted to get involved with hunting so we hooked them up on our system. We call them Watchers. If they recognize any patterns of paranormal activity, they contact us," Grace explained.

"Wow, that's impressive," Sam replied as he ran a hand through his hair. Grace smiled up at him and he grinned. "So…maybe we should, ya know, keep in contact. You know, in case you guys need any help." Grace looked over her shoulder and saw her sister was still occupied with an officer.

"Here," she said grabbing Sam's hand. "This is my personal cell number. I don't give this out much…but I figure I can trust you guys." She smiled up at him again and Sam grinned as he studied the phone number that was inked on his hand.

"Thanks Grace," he said looking down at her. "I hope I never have to call." Grace's smile faltered for a moment, but she quickly recovered.

"Yeah, I hope you don't either." Sam thanked her again before walking toward the impala parked a few yards away. Grace sighed and watched Sam for a moment before retreating inside the truck.

"I know it sounds weird officer, but I know what I saw. There were two of them," Tess said with her arms folded. The officer scratched his head with the pen he was writing with.

"Well, I suppose you have no reason to lie and the evidence was right there in front of us. Two Dean Winchesters…" he muttered and scratched something down on his pad of paper. "Thanks for your help, Miss Beckett." Tess nodded and waited for the officer to walk away before sighing in aggravation.

"Thanks for covering for me," Dean said as he approached her and stood next to her. Tess rolled her eyes.

"How do you manage to sound so arrogant even when thanking someone?" she asked in shock. Dean chuckled.

"It's a talent," he replied. "Catch you later, Sweetheart," he said with a wink.

"Not if I can help it, asshole," she said returning the wink only with sarcasm. The two split ways walking to their respective car and Tess slammed the door as she climbed in. "Where to now?" she asked eagerly.

"Well you can drive wherever you want, I on the other hand rented a room and am eagerly looking forward to a hot shower and a bed to sleep in," Grace said as she kept her eyes on her laptop.

"Good thinking," Tess agreed and grabbed her duffle bag from the backseat. "Which room?"

"110," Grace said absentmindedly as she handed Tess the key to the room. "I'll be in soon; I just want to finish this last thing…" Tess knew better than to disrupt Grace while she was working on her laptop, so she shouldered her bag and trudged toward the room.

Grace watched a new blip appear on the screen and looked up as Sam and Dean pulled out of the parking lot, the blip on the screen moved along an interstate road. She grinned and closed her laptop.


	5. Setting the Table

**A/N Hey everyone. Please Review! The More Reviews I get the faster your updates come :) Just ask my other readers. They get me 5 reviews in one day and they get two chapters in 24 hours :) Thanks and enjoy!**

Inside the hotel, Tess was running a comb through her wet hair. The bathroom was filled with steam from her long, hot shower. Droplets of water cascaded over her shoulders and ran down her back. Tess turned in the mirror and examined the tattoo. The centerpiece of the tattoo was a crescent moon and three diamond stars on her lower back. From there, silverfish gray smoke traveled up her spine and over the sides of her hips with two small stars on both sides of her hipbone and a splay of stars stretching between her shoulder blades.

There was a knock on the bathroom door and Tess quickly wrapped a towel around herself before opening the door.

"Hey, I ordered some room service," Grace said with a smile. Tess returned the smile and walked past her sister to the twin bed with her bag on it. "I was thinking…" Grace started as Tess began pulling her pajamas out of the bag. "Maybe we could go home for a bit…you know, take a break for a few weeks." Tess looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, we've been out for almost six months now. We've never been out this long without stopping by home."

"We haven't stopped by home because no hunts have taken us that far," Tess said as though it were obvious. Grace sighed and sat on the edge of the bed as she fiddled with the hem of her shirt.

"I know that, but don't you miss it to? It's so beautiful this time of year. Plus, it would be nice to take a break for a week or so…"

"Look, I know you're homesick, but this is the job Grace. Home…well, home is just a house now." Grace nodded, but Tess could clearly see the disappointment on her face. She briefly thought about wrapping an arm around her shoulders to try and comfort her but thought better of it.

"I'm going to take a shower," Grace muttered and stood from the bed before locking herself in the bathroom. Tess sighed and pulled the sweatshirt on over her head and climbing into bed. She turned the light out and closed her eyes hoping she would fall asleep quickly.

X

It was early morning and the sun was streaming through the cracks in the curtains. Tess was still sound asleep but Grace was sitting at the small table drinking a cup of coffee. She smiled triumphantly as she looked at the computer screen. She clicked away at the keyboard. She'd found what she was looking for. Normally she was patient, but at this particular moment she wasn't. She stood, grabbed a pillow from her bed and slammed the feather-filled weapon down on her sister's lumpy form.

"Wake up!" she said laughing and quickly retreated a few steps back. However, Tess didn't move. Grace jumped on the end of Tess' bed and began jumping up and down. "Tess, holy crap!" Grace sighed in frustration. "Wake up!" She yelled. Tess finally stirred and glared up at Grace with hair covering most of her face.

"Do you have a death wish?" Tess grumbled. Without waiting for a reply she rolled over and covered her head with a pillow.

"Michael Jackson in a thong!" Grace called and a moment later Tess let out a loud groan.

"Damnit Grace, now I'll never get back to sleep!" she cursed and threw her pillow at her sister. Grace caught it and tossed it aside as she hopped off the bed.

"You'll get over it, besides I have two words that will instantly make you forgive me…" Tess raised her eyebrow and carelessly flung her hair out of her face. "Continental Breakfast."

X

Tess loaded another waffle onto her plate and picked up the large pitcher of syrup. She ignored the several stares she was receiving from other hotel guests and plopped down in her chair opposite Grace.

"Get enough to eat?" Grace asked sarcastically. Tess looked down at her plates. Bowl of captain crunch, two bananas, an apple, a bagel with cream cheese, a croissant filled with apple-butter, glass of orange juice, three waffles and syrup, and a blueberry muffin.

"Oh," Tess said standing up, "I forgot coffee." Grace shook her head. Her sister never was one to care what other people thought. Her attire declared that in itself. Men's flannel pajama bottoms and an oversized sweatshirt complete with fuzzy slippers. Her hair was easily the most frightening. Having gone to bed with her hair wet, it was now a tangled mess piled on top of her head held with a rubber band. Wearing yesterday's minimal make-up, Grace chuckled to herself.

Tess was always the prettier of the two, though she'd never admit it. While Grace received plenty of compliments on her classy attire and well groomed air, Tess had the striking features. Red hair with strawberry highlights, dark blue eyes. She had a sprinkle of freckles across her nose that completed her look.

Grace wasn't without her charms. The two were, after all, twins. Grace had curly blonde hair and pale green eyes. Her complexion had been flawless since she was young. Milky skin and soft features. She and Tess had the same build, bordering on petite, but more toned due to the physical nature of their job. Same eye shape, bone structure, and face shape. The resemblance between the two stopped with their frame, however. The two were so completely opposite. It wasn't a far stretch though, considering their upbringing.

Abandoned to an orphanage in Maine when they were young. The orphanage was hell on earth. Abused, mistreated, and unloved, the two had nothing but one another growing up. That was, until they were adopted at age fifteen by a couple who claimed to be friends of their parents. They moved to Michigan and began living more normal lives. That was…until the memories of the orphanage began coming back to them when they had almost graduated high school.

Things moving on their own. Shadows that spoke. Walls that shifted in the night creating an endless maze of building. Then there was the fire. That had been the turning point in their lives.

Two months after graduating high school their old orphanage had mysteriously caught on fire. Only the owners had survived. When Tess and Grace had gone to the funeral…everything had changed.

"Want some?" Tess asked with a mouthful of waffle. Grace looked down at the plate her sister was extending toward her and grimaced before grabbing one of her bananas. Tess swallowed with a rather loud gulp and set the plate down. "Thanks Grace, way to make me feel fat," Tess complained, though she seemed unfazed by her own comment as she continued to shove food in her mouth.

"I found a case. It seems pretty serious," Grace said getting straight to the point. "We got a hit on the site last night from some local Watchers. It seems a man, a police officer, shot his wife before turning his gun on himself. Here's the catch, earlier that night he and his partner had gone to a place called Roosevelt Asylum. It seems the Asylum has a history in the town of being haunted."

"Doesn't exactly sound like a solid lead," Tess said as she polished off her coffee. "Are you sure the Watchers think it's paranormal?"

"Positive," Grace said firmly. "They did some research on the building and in 1972 three local teens went into the abandoned asylum and only one survived. According to the survivor, his friend lost it and started setting the place on fire."

"Ok…that sounds a little more suspicious. So what are we waiting for, let's pack up," Tess said standing to her feet.

"Well I wasn't sure if you wanted to finish _that_," she said gesturing to the food, "or if you wanted to take it with you." Tess' eye lit up.

"Good idea, way to be a thinker Grace!" she said and walked over to the bar with food. She grabbed a donut box, still full, and began loading it full of food. As she began filling up a to-go cup with coffee a small family of four stared at her and the mom scoffed.

"Some people have no propriety…" the woman said glaring at Tess. She turned around glared back at the woman.

"Hey honey, if you want _propriety_ you should have told your cheapskate husband to spring for the Four Seasons." With that and an over zealous bite of a powdered donut, Tess brushed past them.

"God Tess, you just make friends every where you go don't you," Grace said as she joined Tess who was hoarding a box full of food.

"Just for that," Tess said with her mouth still full of food, "I'm not sharing!"

X

"Oh God I'm dying," Tess groaned from the passenger seat of the car. Grace couldn't help but laugh. "Shut up its not funny! I seriously think I'm dying… that woman must have been a witch…"

"Or it's the mass amounts of food you shoved down your throat this morning. Lets see, five waffles, two muffins, a bagel, two helpings of scrambled eggs with ketchup, and six apple-butter croissants…"

"It's not _that_ much…"

"Then for desert," Grace continued, "you had a box of donuts, two cups of coffee and saltine crackers?"

"In all fairness, I only ate the saltines because I thought it would calm my stomach down. And hey, you helped me eat those donuts!"

"One, Tess, I ate one…out of the box of twelve!" Tess only groaned again and leaned against the window.

"Where are we headed anyway?" Tess asked as she watched the scenery pass by. Grace bit her lip and refused to look over at her sister.

"Um…Illinois," Grace said hoping that her voice wasn't quivering as much as she thought it was. Tess rolled her head over to look at her sister, but Grace was keeping her eyes focused on the road ahead of them.

"Convenient," was all she said before falling asleep against the window. Grace let out a sigh of relief. Undoubtedly she would get an earful from her sister later, but for now she was happy that Tess had eaten herself into a coma.

X

It was nearing midnight when they pulled into town. Tess pulled the truck into a motel parking lot and the two exited the car.

"Oh look," Tess said with a hint of sarcastic joy in her voice, "an all night bar!" Grace rolled her eyes and the two checked into a room. Grace and Tess set their bags on their respective bed and Grace immediately flipped her laptop open. "That thing is going to suck your brain our through your eyes," Tess jibed. "Though, I think it might already have," she said as she lifted one of Grace's braids and tried peering through her ear. Grace swatted her away and Tess laughed.

"I'm just waiting to see if there's an update from the Watchers. Besides, the system reboots at midnight. There might be some local hunters in the area that can give us a hand," Grace explained.

"Whatever brainiac," Tess said with disinterest and began running a brush through her hair. "I wonder if they have room service this late at night…"

"Don't you think you've eaten enough today?" Grace asked without looking up from the computer screen.

"Obviously not because I'm still hungry…damn, looks like they don't." Tess jumped up from the bed and tossed the room pamphlet to the side and pulled her shirt off over her head before pulling out a clean t-shirt and zip up hoodie. "I'm headed to the bar, want anything?"

"No I'm good," Grace said absentmindedly as she kept her eyes glued to the screen. Tess shrugged her off and left the room headed straight for the bar that was surprisingly filled with several people.

Tess walked boldly through the bar past several drunkards and sat down at a bar stool. After ordering, the bartender handed her a cold Guinness and she popped the cap off. As her eyes perused the menu she felt someone sit next to her.

"Hey there pretty lady, mind if I…"

"No," Tess interrupted and kept her eyes on the menu. The man next to her faltered for a moment, but chuckled.

"Ah I see you're just playin' hard to get. How bout you and me…"

"No."

"But I was just ganna ask if you'd like…"

"Not interested."

"Not even if I…"

"Nope."

"Well why don't you give me…"

"Not a chance in hell."

"Bitch," the guy muttered and left. Tess resisted the urge to grin and instead ordered a hamburger and a basket of garlic fries. The bartender smiled at her and chuckled. He'd obviously never met anyone like Tess before.

X

Dean and Sam sat at the local bar mulling over the information they'd receive that day. Sam polished off his beer and began fiddling with the bottle.

"So what else did you and Dr. Ellicott talk about?" Dean asked. "For being in there an hour you sure didn't get much information."

"Well, you know…we just talked about stuff," Sam answered vaguely. Dean raised his eyebrows. Sam glanced up at him, but quickly looked back down at the bottle.

"Oh man, seriously!" Dean exclaimed. "You talked about me? You talked about me didn't you?" Sam just shrugged. "Well…what did you say?"

"Nothing," Sam said quickly. "I just told him we were on a road trip and-and that's all." Dean rolled his eyes.

"Man, you are such a liar," Dean said and Sam sighed in frustration. "But Sammy," Dean said in a more serious tone. "If you and I have problems…you know we can talk about it right?"

"Really?" Sam asked as he looked up from the bottle and Dean offered him a small smile as he placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah man, I mean we're brothers right?" Dean asked and Sam chuckled. "Besides, this must be difficult for you and all. Being on the road, left all your friends back at Stanford, you know, and your insecurities. After all, I _am_ better looking than you."

"Man, forget it," Sam said standing up. Dean burst into laughter as Sam pulled his jacket on. "I'll be in the room, call me when you grow up."

"Oh come on Sammy," Dean called as Sam made for the door. "Don't walk away from your feelings!" Dean laughed to himself and rocked back in his chair.

"Man that woman was a real bitch," Dean heard a man say from behind him. "Sure is a looker though. Man I'd like to tangle my hands in that red hair of hers….and that ass…." Dean chuckled again. Then he rocked forward in his chair and his smile fell.

"Wait…what woman?" he asked as he rudely interrupted the conversation of the two men sitting behind him. They both looked up at him. "Red hair, nice ass, real bitch?"

"She's at the bar," one of them said. "Wouldn't set your hopes too high, though. It'd be easier to break into the white house than into her pants." Both men laughed, but Dean ignored them as he headed toward the bar.

X

Sam stuffed his hands in his pockets as he left the bar. He began walking back toward his room and kicked a can that was lying on the ground. It bounced off a wall and clanked on the ground noisily. He reached his door and pulled out the key. As he shoved it into the lock and tried to turn it, they key wouldn't budge. He looked down and saw the key wasn't even fitting in the lock properly.

"Oh come on!" he growled and pounded his fist on the door. He proceeded to kick it and lean his forehead against the door.

"Hey can you keep it down out here, some of us are trying to sleep." A woman called from the room next to his. "Hey did you hear me?"

"Yeah I heard you!" Sam called. He stood upright and looked to the woman who was standing in her doorway wearing her pajamas.

"Sam?" Grace asked. Sam furrowed his brow and studied her appearance more closely. The woman was wearing baggy pajama bottoms and a thin strapped tank top. Her curly blonde hair was tied into two braids on either side of her head.

"Grace!" he said in realization. Grace subconsciously folded her arms over her chest and attempted to smile. "What are you doing here?" he asked and took a step toward her.

"I could ask you the same thing," she said attempting to lighten the mood. "Tess and I are working a case. Dean here too?"

"Uh, yeah," he said and shook his head as though clearing a thought from his mind. "We're working a case too." There was a loud crash and some cursing from outside the bar as a man collapsed into the trash cans while his friends were laughing at him. "Hey, do you mind if I use your room phone? My key isn't working."

"Sure," Grace said and stepped aside and let Sam inside the room. She closed the door behind him and tried to hide the furious blush on her face. "It's…uh on the nightstand," she said pointing to it. Sam nodded and walked over to it as he sat on her bed. Grace grabbed a sweatshirt from the end of her bed and quickly threw it on before kicking Tess' laundry under the bed.

"They're sending someone down with another key," Sam said as he stood and placed the phone back on the hook. "I'll-uh-just wait outside." However, instead of moving toward the door he just stood there.

"Um…what case are you working?" Grace said after an awkward moment of silence passed. Sam perked up at the new conversation.

"Well, I guess there's this asylum in town…"

X

Tess took a large bite of her hamburger as it was delivered and washed it down with a large gulp of her drink. As she was about to take another drink she spotted someone standing behind her in the mirror behind the bar. She nearly choked on her drink when she saw who it was.

"No…way…in hell!" she exclaimed as she turned around in her stool. Standing there with his mouth open was none other than Dean Winchester. "What are you doing here!" she exclaimed.

"Ha, I was here first Sweetheart, what the hell are _you_ doing here." Tess stood from her stool and glared up at Dean. She wasn't about to let the height difference intimidate her.

"Call me _sweetheart_ one more time," she growled venomously. Dean opened his mouth to say something, but Tess cut him off. "Never mind!" she snapped and walked past him.

"So why is it you show up everywhere we are?" Dean asked as he followed her out of the bar. Tess scoffed.

"Are you not seeing the two way street here, Rookie?" she asked turning to face him. "I suppose you're here working the Roosevelt Asylum case too?" she asked and Dean's eyes widened. "God, I knew it." She rolled her eyes and stopped in front of her motel door. "Well this was chummy, meeting up and all, let's never do it again!" She turned her back on him and opened the door.

"Do you like sugar with your coffee?" Tess stopped in the doorway with her jaw hanging open. She felt Dean bump her shoulder as he stepped into the room beside her, a similar expression on his face.

"What the hell?" Tess asked in shock. Both Sam and Grace looked up at their siblings with innocent expressions.

"Oh good, you're here," Grace said not missing a beat. "Sam and I have been comparing information on the Roosevelt Asylum case. Isn't that a coincidence, Tess, they're working the same case we are."

"Coincidence? Yeah, I'd say a little _too_ convenient!" she exclaimed stepping farther into the room.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dean asked in a challenging manner. Tess rounded on him, her hands flying to her hips.

"I think you know what it means," she said with raised eyebrows. "You guys just _happen_ to show up everywhere that we are, investigating the same cases we are…"

"Now hold up!" Dean interrupted. Grace leaned back against the table and sipped her coffee with nonchalance. Sam looked from the arguing pair to Grace.

"Shouldn't we…I don't know…stop them?" he asked. Grace just grinned and kept her amused expression on her sister.

"Don't worry," Grace said with a small smile on her face. "Tess isn't armed; she won't do _too_ much damage." Sam just shook his head.

"Plus," Dean continued, "it was _you_ that followed us to St. Louis, remember?" His face had turned red with frustration.

"And here," Grace said drawing both of their attention. She was slightly startled by the murderous looks still implanted on their faces. "I'm just saying…Sam and I were talking, apparently they arrived yesterday. That would mean, technically, they were here first." Dean had a triumphant look on her face and Tess looked even more flustered.

"Whose side are you on anyway?" Tess asked furiously. Grace rolled her eyes and stood upright before sitting in the chair next to Sam.

"I'm on the side of getting this case solved and currently the two of you are too preoccupied in bickering like children to be of any use. So if you'd like to visit 'grown-up land' Sam and I are trying to work over here. If not, take your temper tantrums outside." A silence fell over the room. Sam grinned at Grace's ability to shut both Tess and Dean up. Even _he_ wasn't able to shut Dean up.

"We were _not_ bickering," Dean mumbled. "Besides, _she_ started it…"

"Did not!" Tess scoffed. Dean glared at her and Tess stuck her tongue out at him. Sam and Grace had long since stopped paying attention to them and were back to starring at the computer screen.

"What have you figured out?" Dean asked as he stood behind Sam. Grace tore her eyes from the screen and looked up at him.

"So far, we've figured out that something twisted was going on inside the asylum." She turned in her chair to look at Tess who was standing as far away from Dean as she could get while remaining in the room. "Sam spoke with a descendent of Dr. Ellicott, the chief psychiatrist in the old asylum, and apparently there was a riot that broke out."

"Yeah, and most of the bodies were never recovered," Sam said picking up where Grace left off. Tess nodded. "So we're thinking, angry spirits taking out their aggression on whoever steps foot inside."

"So what, we find the bodies, torch 'em, and we're good," Tess with a shrug. If Dean hadn't silently vowed to hate the annoying bit…woman, he would have been slightly impressed with her 'shoot first ask questions later' mentality.

"To put it simply, sure," Grace answered with a shrug. "You guys were inside the asylum, notice any hot spots? Any idea where the most activity is?"

"We're banking on the south wing," Dean answered. Everyone looked up as they heard the cocking of a gun. Tess was already standing in front of her open duffle bag with her pistols in hand.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go."


	6. Asylum

Tess could feel Grace starring at her from the passenger seat as they followed the black impala toward the asylum. Tess, however, refused to make eye contact.

"So…" Grace said breaking the silence. "What exactly is your grudge against Sam and Dean?" Tess resisted a snort.

"Nothing, it's not personal. I just don't trust them. You shouldn't either, they're bad news." It was Grace's turn to resist an exasperated snort, only she failed. "Seriously!" Tess said cutting her remark off. "Just because some tall dark and handsome guy comes into your life professing his desire to hunt the wicked and save the innocent doesn't mean you have to buy what he's selling."

"I'm not buying anything," Grace replied. "But I don't have the natural tendency to distrust _everyone_ I meet right off the bat. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt."

"Yeah, I know remember?" Tess said finally looking over at her sister. Grace dropped her eyes to her lap. "Look…Sam and Dean might…_might_ be legit, but lets not jump the gun. This whole running into them on a regular basis…thing," she said waving a hand in the air for emphasis "isn't just coincidence. I've seen enough in this job to not believe in coincidence."

"I don't know…sometimes, these things just happened. I mean, Sam said that he got a text on his phone telling him the coordinates to this place and that's why they came. They thought it might have been their dad. Maybe the Watchers texted them the coordinates thinking we needed backup."

"Grace…" Tess said slowly, almost dangerously. "How would the Watchers have the Winchester's number?" Grace bit her lip.

"I-er-set them up in the network…" Grace felt the car lurch forward as Tess slammed her foot on the break. The truck skid to a stop leaving black tire marks on the road behind.

"Damnit, Grace!" Tess practically roared. "Did you even stop to think that Sam and Dean are leading us to our death right now!" Tess was yelling now. Not shouting. Not a raised voice. Yelling. Bad…and violent things happened when Tess yelled.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I knew you'd react this way," Grace defended. Tess took in a shaky breath and let it out slowly.

"Do you have any idea what would happen if the contact information we had on the network were to fall into the hands of a demon? God, Grace, it could be happening already! They might be picking Hunters off one by one by now!"

"Don't lecture me, Tess, I helped design the network, remember!" Grace bit back. "I'm not an idiot and you're not the only one who has good instincts here. Remember Portland?"

"Let's not bring up what went on in Oregon, ok?" Tess asked as she pinched the bridge of her nose as though trying to fight off a tension headache.

"Why, _you_ certainly bring it up enough!" Tess was about to retort something but there was a knock on the window that startled both of them. Sam was standing outside their window and Tess rolled it down.

"Are you two coming?" he asked glancing between the two of them with confusion. Tess didn't answer, she was too angry to speak.

"Yeah we're coming, we just stopped, uh…to chat…" Sam looked even more confused but shrugged it off. He turned to leave, but Tess reached out the window and caught his arm. He turned to look at her, but flinched as something splashed him. "Christo…"

"What the hell?" he asked wiping the clear liquid off of his face. Tess released his arm and smiled.

"Just making sure you're not a demon," she said casually and waved the silver bottle with a cross on it in front of his face. Sam rolled his eyes and walked back to the impala.

"Subtle Tess, really, very classy," Grace said sarcastically from the passenger seat. Tess rolled her window up and cast one last glare at her sister, the kind that said 'I'm not talking to you for the rest of the night…or my life, whichever comes first', before pulling back onto the road.

X

It wasn't long before they reached the asylum. It looked every bit as charming as they had imagined it to be. Run down, moldy, boarded up, and haunted. Perfect honeymoon location…really!

"Here," Tess muttered as she handed Grace an EVP monitor with a screen. Grace took it and the sisters quickly stepped apart as though being close to one another was making them angrier.

"Have a nice _chat_?" Dean asked as Tess walked past him toward the entrance to the asylum.

"Drop dead." Dean chuckled obviously satisfied he had gotten under her skin and followed her to the door where Sam and Grace were waiting.

"Alright, here's how this is going to go. Grace and I have EVP monitors. In case you rookies don't know what they do, they use high frequency sonar to detect a change in atmosphere. With sensitive sonar, we'll be able to hear and see if there's anything in there. Grace and I will take a sweep of the South wing and radio you when we've found something. You two can wait out here and keep your eyes open for cops."

"Hold your horses," Dean chimed in before she could go any further in her rant. "Who _died_ and put you in charge."

"It could be you," Tess remarked as she cocked her pistol. Grace put a hand on her arm and rolled her eyes.

"Let's split up," Grace said rationally. "Tess and I will take the left corridor. Sam you and Dean take the right, and we'll meet in the middle. Make sense."

"One problem," Tess argued. "Sam and Dean don't have EVP monitors. They aren't going to see anything coming until it already manifests."

"You can't see them _before_ they manifest anyway," Sam defended. He couldn't help the slight blow to his ego as the two women easily took charge of the situation.

"So I'll lend them mine," Grace said passively. "Then each team will have one. It makes sense."

"Hell no, do you know how much these cost!" Tess snapped. Grace rolled her eyes and gave up. Obviously the tension was insurmountable.

"Ok, ok, calm down," Sam said stepping between the two women. "We'll team up, Grace and I will go together and Dean you and Tess will go."

"No!" both Tess and Dean yelled. Sam cast a hopeful glance at Grace practically begging her for assistance.

"Tess," Grace said and pulled her sister off. "Fine, be a bitch if you want," Grace said getting straight to the point. "But what better way to fish out who Sam and Dean are than to divide and conquer." Grace was relating to Tess' hunting instinct. It was the only way to rationalize with her sometimes…ok most of the time.

"Fine." Was all Tess said before walking back to the guys. "I'll let you two duke out which one of you gets to come with me," she said sarcastically before kicking the door to the asylum open and walking inside. Grace followed her closely.

"Dude, you can_not_ leave me with that banshee!" Dean said in a hushed voice. Sam wanted to laugh. He never thought he'd see the day Dean was afraid of a pretty woman. Sam held his fist up. "Oh come on man, what are we, six?" Dean asked in frustration. When Sam didn't lower his fist Dean sighed. "Fine." They shook their fists and when they opened them, Sam's straight out and Dean's still in a fist, Sam let himself laugh.

"Paper beats rock bro," he said clapping him on the shoulder. "You always did suck at that game," Sam chuckled again as he walked inside the building.

"Wait come on, two out of three!"

X

"Getting any readings?" Sam asked Grace. She had the monitor extended in front of her as the two walked.

"Yeah, I can't _stop_ getting readings. The only problem is the whole place is hot. I can't tell a wall from a chair with this thing."

"So much for high tech," Sam said sarcastically. Grace chuckled and removed the ear piece from her ear. "This place is orbing like crazy." The two stared at the monitor and saw the white puffs zooming on and off the screen. They took a left into a smaller room that served as an office. There was a bookshelf on the wall near the door, a file cabinet next to a boarded up window on the far wall and a desk in the center of the room.

"Sam!" Grace gasped suddenly. With one hand she grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop and with the other she extended the monitor. They watched as a white puff slowly became a white blob on the screen.

"What the…" Sam muttered as he took the EVP from Grace who had crossed to the other side of the room. The blob was slowly becoming a silhouette that looked distinctly human.

"Uh…Sam…" Grace said again. He ignored her however as he felt entranced by the manifestation. It was a woman with a marred face; she began lifting her left hand with her index finger extended. "Sam!" Grace's scream made him immediately look up. He gasped when he did, however, because directly in front of him was the woman. "Duck!" Sam didn't hesitate before he hit the tile floor. Then there were two gunshots. When Sam looked up, the ghostly woman was gone. "Are you alright?" Grace asked as she rushed over to Sam.

"Yeah…yeah that was weird," he said as they both stood. "She didn't even try to hurt me. Did you see, she was pointing to something."

"What are you talking about? All I saw was her appear in front of you. I didn't see her point." Sam looked down at the monitor.

"Does this thing rewind?" Grace took it from him and pressed a button on the left side of the monitor. The images began to scroll backward. "There!" he exclaimed. Grace quickly pressed play and the scene replayed. "See, she's pointing to something."

"It looks like she's pointing at you Sam," Grace tried to reason, but Sam was already examining the bookshelf he had been standing in front of.

"No, there's something here. There has to be." He began pulling books from the shelf and reading the titles. Grace sighed and began doing the same. After they had finished searching each book and carelessly tossing it to the floor Sam furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Are you sure she wasn't point at you, Sam?" Grace hoped her tone didn't sound like and 'I told you so' but there wasn't really a way to avoid it. Sam shrugged, but an idea struck him. He pulled the bookshelf away from the wall and grinned.

"Look," he said pulling the bookshelf away completely. On the wall was a map of the entire asylum. "This must be where we are," he said fingering the red dot on the map that was centered in a room in the South Wing. He trailed a finger to another room where a black mark was. "Ow!" he said and pulled his finger away. "Scorch mark…and its fresh."

"Guess we know where the ghost wants us to go," Grace said with a small chuckle. "I'd better call Tess and Dean." Grace pulled out her cell phone and flipped it open. "Great…" she mumbled.

"What?" Sam asked as he tore his eyes from the map on the wall. Grace clicked her phone shut and shoved it back into her pocket.

"Battery is dead. Guess I found out where our ghost got her energy to manifest from." Sam laughed and ripped the map from the wall as he followed Grace out of the room. They hadn't made it ten steps before Sam grabbed Grace's arm.

"Hear that?" he asked. They both listened for a moment. There was a distinct sound of muffled breathing coming from a room on their right. They cautiously entered. Grace pointed to the crouching figure on the other side of the room and Sam nodded. They each grasped an end of the table and pulled it away.

"Oh geeze," Grace said as the figure behind the table proved not to be a ghost, but a teenage girl whose eyes were wet with tears. "Are you alright?"

"Who are you?" the girls asked with trepidation in her voice. Sam and Grace immediately lowered their weapons.

"Don't worry we aren't going to Hurt you. I'm Grace and this is Sam." The girl visibly relaxed. Sam felt a small grin form on his face. Grace had the sort of gentle appeal that could put even the most frightened people at ease. He'd seen it when she spoke with Hailey and Ben when they faced the Wendigo, and now here she was doing it again as though it were second nature. "What's your name?"

"Katherine…Kat, you can call me Kat." Grace helped Kat to her feet and placed a hand on her shoulder. "H-Have you seen Gavin? My boyfriend. He was in here too and we got separated. He thought it would be fun to try and see some ghosts. I thought it was all just, you know…pretend. I've seen things. I heard Gavin scream and…"

"Shh it's ok, don't worry we'll find him, right Sam?" Sam only nodded as both women looked at him expectantly. "Do you have any idea where he went?" Kat shook her head and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Come on, if we're going to find Gavin we need to keep moving," Sam suggested. As they began to walk, Kat grabbed Grace's arm as they left the room. Grace smiled down at her and allowed the frightened teen to cling to her.

X

Tess shoved her shoulder into a door and it jarred loose from the doorjamb. Dean grinned as he followed her into the adjoining hallway. Tess coughed as she walked into a low hanging cob web.

"Gross," she muttered as she brushed herself off. "God, why don't they just burn these places down? No wonder they had electroshock therapy. I'd need it if I got stuck in this hell hole." Dean chuckled as he watched the hallway through the monitor.

"Yeah, lobotomies they did some twisted stuff to these people. Kind of like my man, Jack in _Cuckoo's Nest._" Tess raised her eyebrow at him. "What?"

"I preferred _The Shining_, but whatever," Tess said turning back to her slow walk down the hall. Dean was slightly taken aback. He'd tried that joke on his brother and it earned him a glare, but here Tess was humoring him.

"Yeah? Good movie." He glanced up at her, but her back as facing him. He let his eyes trail from the back of her head down the rest of her. Her fiery red hair was bound into a ponytail and he could make out a small tattoo on the back of her neck that disappeared under the collar of her white shirt. Her arms were relatively toned, for a woman, and she had a long abdomen. She was an average height, probably six inches shorter than himself yet almost a foot shorter than Sam, same as her sister. She had simple curves, only a small dip for her waist. Her jeans hugged her round hips. He found his eyes locked onto her…_ass_et. Easily her best feature, in his opinion.

"See anything yet?" Tess asked as she came to a stop. Her only answer was silence. "Dean?" She asked and turned to face him. His eyes snapped up to hers and she felt her temper rise. "God, is my ass all you can think about?" Dean chuckled.

"Some women would consider it a compliment." Wrong thing to say. Tess began storming back down the hallway toward him. "Whoa, wait, stop!" he called and Tess froze.

"What?" she hissed. Dean had seen something white behind her. He looked down at the monitor and saw the same wisp approaching her. It began taking on a more human form. It was at the far end of the hall walking toward them, but he couldn't get a good look at it. "Dean, what is it?"

"There's something…" before he could finish his sentence, he heard Tess gasp and a small scream escape her throat. He looked up and saw a ghost behind her with its arm wrapped around her throat. "Tess!" he called and withdrew his shotgun. He couldn't get a shot off with her in the way. Tess was groping at the arm around her neck as it pulled her backward.

"Just…shoot…" she choked out. Dean hesitated. Rock salt didn't kill, but if he hit her in the head it might. "Dean!" she yelled and as his finger twitched on the trigger the ghost pulled her into the darkness with an unearthly speed.

"Shit, Tess!" he yelled and ran after them. He could hear her feet scraping against the ground. With every turn he took he could just see them disappearing around the next corner. "Tess!" Then there was a dead end. At the end of the hall was a single door and Dean was quick to run to it. Locked. He shot the doorknob off and kicked the door open. "Tess!" he called as he found it was an empty room. He heard a small wheeze from the other side of an overturned table. He raised his shotgun and peered over the side, but instead of seeing Tess as he hoped, it was a teenage boy lying with his eyes shut. "Hey, hey wake up," Dean said as he knelt next to the teen and shook him.

"Who are you?" the boy asked as he sat up. Dean rolled his eyes. That was _always_ the first question people asked.

"I'm Dean," he said helping the boy to his feet. The boy shook himself as though he were trying to wake from a dream. "It's your turn."

"I'm Gavin," he said briefly making eye contact with Dean. "H-have you seen Kat, my girlfriend?"

"No I haven't and I suppose you haven't seen a cute redhead with a nice…well anyway, what the hell are you doing in here?"

"I brought Kat here, it-it was just for fun," Gavin stammered out quickly. Dean pulled Gavin from the room and began retracing his steps in hopes of a sign of Tess.

"What were you doing in that room anyway?" Dean asked as he pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Sam's number.

"I was running. There was…there was this girl. H-h-her face… it was all messed up…man she kissed me!" that made Dean stop in his tracks and turn to the boy with raised eyebrows. "Yeah I know. I'm scarred for life!"

"Ok…so this ghost chick kissed you…anything else? Did she try to hurt you? You don't look injured." Dean clicked his phone shut. Sam's battery must have died because it went straight to voicemail.

"Yeah," Gavin said as he forced himself to remember. "Yeah she tried to whisper something in my ear. It was messed up!" Dean gave him an expectant look. "Man, I don't know what she was trying to say, I ran like hell wouldn't you?" Dean sighed in exasperation. Things were making less and less sense by the minute.

"Alright, fine. Stay close, hold this," he said thrusting the monitor into his hands. "Tell me if you see anything. We'll find your girlfriend." Dean was about to take the hallways to his left when he saw scuff marks on the floor to his right. He crouched. They were fresh. "This way."

X

Sam entered the hallway first followed by Grace and Kat, who was still clinging to Grace's arm. Grace was holding the monitor now and Sam led the way with the flashlight. It suddenly flickered and went out.

"Damnit," Sam muttered as he hit the flashlight against his hand. "Grace, you got a light?" Kat momentarily let go of Grace as she searched her pockets. She handed Sam a lighter she'd brought to torch the bodies with and he turned it on.

"Ow, you're hurting me!" Kat said suddenly. "Grace, you're hurting my arm." Grace and Sam made eye contact as he held the flame up.

"Kat, I'm not touching you…" Grace said. Sam held the flame toward Kat's arm and they saw a mangled hand gripping her. Kat only had time to scream as she saw the marred face before she was thrust backward. "Kat!" The door to the room she was pulled into slammed shut.

"Grace! Grace, get me out of here!" Kat screamed frantically. She was in a windowless room that was nearly pitch-black. Sam grabbed a nearby crowbar and began trying to pry the door open.

"Hold on honey, we'll get you out. Stay close to the wall and don't touch anything!" Kat backed against the far wall and felt hot tears pouring from her eyes.

"Sam what's going on?" The two looked to the end of the hall and saw Dean and another person approaching. They both automatically assumed it was Gavin, Kat's lost boyfriend.

"Kat's locked inside with one of them," Sam answered. He and Dean immediately set back to trying to open the door, but the heavy metal door wouldn't budge.

"Where's Tess?" Grace asked as she felt her own panic arise. Dean gave her a guilty look before quickly breaking eye contact.

"One of them took her. I followed, but it was too fast. That's how I found Gavin…" Grace felt her heart sink. Tess was in trouble. Or was she?

"Wait, it's starting to make sense," Grace muttered to herself but they all heard. "Kat, honey, it's not going to hurt you. Listen to me, you have to face it. You need to calm down and listen to what its saying."

"She has to what?" Dean asked at the same time Kat echoed the same question from within the room.

"The spirits…they're not trying to hurt us, they're trying to communicate. You've got to listen to it, you have to face it." It registered to Sam and his eyes widened with realization.

"_You_ face it!" Kat screamed. She was becoming more frantic and Grace couldn't blame her. She pushed Sam and Dean aside and drew closer to the door so Kat could hear her better.

"I would if I could honey, but the ghost chose to speak with you. They trust you! You have to be brave and just listen to them. It's the only way we're going to be able to get you out of there."

"O-ok," Kat whimpered. She could feel the spirit approaching her from her right and she slowly turned to face it. Her heart nearly stopped beating she was so frightened. It leaned down to whisper something in her ear.

"I hope you're right about this," Dean said to Grace and she looked up at him with uncertain eyes. They all held their breath and after what seemed an eternity the door clicked open and a petrified Kat stood on the other side.

"Kat!" Gavin exclaimed and she practically collapsed into his arms. The two embraced for a moment before she pulled away and gave Grace a hug.

"137…that's what it whispered in my ear," Kat said as she looked between Grace, Dean and Sam.

"137," Dean repeated. "Are you positive that's what it said?" Kat fixed him with a death glare.

"I could go back in and ask him to repeat himself if you want," she said sarcastically and Dean withdrew from the shock of her retort.

"137, it must be a room number," Sam said and pulled the map out of his back pocket. Dean grabbed it from him and scanned it with his eyes.

"Ok, you two get them out of here. I'll find room 137 and you can meet me there." Grace furrowed her brow and grabbed the map back from Dean.

"Like hell you're going without me, in case you forgot my sister is missing! I'm not going anywhere until I find her!" Dean starred at Grace in shock. He'd never expected such an outburst from her, Tess definitely, but Grace? His level of respect for her increased as he saw the fire behind her pale green eyes.

"Alright, Sammy you take them. We'll find Tess and meet you at room 137." Dean and Grace didn't wait for a response before heading down the opposite the end of the hall.

"So, how do you guys know about all this ghost stuff?" Kat asked as she and Gavin were left alone with Sam.

"It's kind of our job," he said with a chuckle and led them toward the exit.

"Why would anyone want a job like that?" she asked as more of a rhetorical question.

"I had a crappy guidance councilor," Sam teased and Gavin laughed.

"And Dean is your boss?" Sam paused. He wasn't sure why, but her question stung.

"Uh…No."


	7. Aggression

**A/N Bahahah. I LOVE this chapter. Seeds planted to a blossoming relationship...so beautiful. Reviews would be nice....**

"Here it is," Dean said as he and Grace stood outside room 137. They entered swiftly with raised weapons, but the room was empty save for basic and rusty office equipment. Dean immediately set to work searching for clues. "Oh man, look at this…" Dean said as he removed a folder from a cabinet.

"That's disgusting," Grace said as she covered her mouth with a hand. Inside the brown folder were multiple pictures of patients being tortured…and that was an understatement.

"Looks like Dr. Ellicott was using his patients as pin cushions." Grace nodded her head silently in agreement. Dean scanned the booklet for a moment. "Man…look at his theory on rage therapy. I guess he figured if he could make his patients vent their anger it would cure them. Only it didn't work. This guy was sick."

"I have to find Tess. Your cell phone working?" Grace asked Dean. He tossed it to her and quickly returned to rummaging through a file cabinet. Grace punched in Tess' number.

"_hello_?" It was Tess. Grace's face lit up.

"Tess, thank God. Where are you?" Dean looked up as he heard Grace say Tess' name. "Ok, I'll be there in a minute. Just hold on." Grace clicked the phone shut. "Tess is trapped in the basement; I have to get to her."

"Whoa, you can't just go running into the basement on your own. Dr. Ellicott is probably the cause for all of this. You can't face him on your own."

"Dean I'm not some damsel in distress, I've been at this awhile. Plus, Tess is out there. She's trapped." Dean hesitated a moment.

"Ok, I'll find Sam, you go get Tess, but keep your eyes open. You start to see anything weird, get out of there and wait for me and Sam."

"I'm not making any promises," Grace said sternly. They left the room and parted ways both in search of their respective sibling.

X

"Tess! Where are you?" Grace yelled as she frantically ran through the maze of the basement. She came to a dead stop as the light above her head flickered. It blinked off then back on. "Tess?" Grace asked as she felt something brush past her. Then the light went out. Grace backed against the wall and cocked her gun.

A small scream escaped Grace as something strong gripped her arm and pulled her into a room. It was pitch black at first but a light turned on and Grace came face to face with Tess.

"God you scared me!" Grace said but she was already throwing her arms around Tess. "I thought you were trapped, what happened? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," Tess answered almost too easily. "Where are Sam and Dean?" Grace was confused with her sister. Tess had sounded almost frantic on the phone and now she had her usually calm exterior…no not _usual_. This was weird, even for Tess.

"Uh, we ran into a couple kids who were trapped in here. Sam was helping them get out and Dean went to find him so we could rescue you. Are you sure you're alright?"

"God will you stop asking me that?" Tess snapped. Grace literally jumped back a step at the outburst. Her eyes were wide with shock and she momentarily felt a shiver of fear overcome her. But why was she scared of Tess? Something wasn't right. "What, you going to cry now?" Tess asked in a venomous voice. "God you're so pathetic sometimes Grace. If everything isn't sunshine and rainbows you fall apart. I should have just left you in Portland…"

"That's not fair!" Grace interrupted, only now she wished she hadn't. Something was definitely wrong. Tess was glaring at her in such a way that Grace had only seen once or twice, yet it was never directed toward her.

"Fair, you want to talk about fair?" Tess asked as she began pacing. "Ok, let's talk fair. Was it fair that you were ready to quit hunting and run off with your little boyfriend? Or, I know, I bet you think it was fair that you chose to help him when I _clearly_ needed you more." Tears were stinging Grace's eyes. "No, no here's the _fair_ part," Tess said using air quotes. "I get _my_ ass beat almost to death trying to save _your_ neck when _I_ was the one who warned you _not_ to get involved with Jacob in the first place! Then, when I'm bleeding to death at the hands of your fucked up boyfriend you still have the gall to try and save him!"

"Tess," Grace said but it came out a more of a whimper. "Stop it. This isn't you…Dr. Ellicott must have gotten to you." Tess slammed her hand on the table that separated them and Grace jumped.

"Now you're telling me what to do? Is little Grace actually sticking up for herself this time?" Tess moved around the table and Grace did her best to keep her distance. "Is big bad sister Tess ruining all of little Gracie's fun?" Grace made to run out the door to her left, but Tess grabbed her arm and roughly slammed her into the wall. "We can't have _that_ now can we?"

"Tess…Stop it, please!" Grace said in a quieter but still stern tone of voice. Tess chuckled, rolled her eyes, and caught Grace off guard as she backhanded her.

"God you are so pathetic!" Grace fell to the ground and Tess pulled her up by the hair. Tess raised her fist to punch her, but Grace's instincts kicked in and she drove her elbow into Tess' gut. This only managed to infuriate her more. Tess slammed her fist into Grace's jaw and smirked with satisfaction at the trickle of blood on her lip.

"Tess this isn't you, please, fight it!" Grace yelled as she lay on her back on the ground. Tess pulled her pistol out of its holster and aimed it at Grace.

"Good bye Grace, can't say that it's been a pleasure being your sister." Before Tess could even flinch, she was collapsing to the ground having been knocked unconscious. Grace gasped as Dean now stood where her sister once was.

"You alright?" he asked as he extended a hand to her. She took it and nodded her head. "What got into her? I mean I knew she was a bit…"

"Its Dr. Ellicott, it has to be," Grace interrupted. "Tess has _never _been that angry before." It was a lie. Tess had been that angry before. But Dean didn't need to know that.

"Yeah, that makes sense," Dean agreed. "You got any rope?" He asked suddenly. Grace gave him a confused look. "Never mind." He unbuckled his belt and used it to tie Tess' hands behind her back before hoisting her over his shoulder. "Come on," he said with a grunt and led her out of the room.

"Where's Sam?" Grace asked as they moved through the hallway. "Did he get Kat and Gavin out alright?"

"Apparently Sam got a phone call from me telling him to come to the basement. Only I never called him." Realization hit Grace like a brick wall.

"The same with Tess…no wonder she sounded so frantic. I should have known. Tess never loses her cool…" Grace glanced at Tess' unconscious body. "Well, almost never."

"Sammy!" Dean called as they moved farther into the basement. "Here, take this," he said handing Grace the duffle bag. It was growing increasingly difficult to carry it, a gun, and Tess. "Hey Sammy!" he called again.

"In here," Grace said and moved into another wing. Dean followed. "I thought I heard something…" Dean set Tess' still unconscious form down on the floor and aimed his gun high as they moved through the room.

"Sammy?" Grace was farther in the room than he was and as he turned to cover the door he felt his heart leap into his throat. "Damnit don't sneak up on me like that!" he exclaimed to his brother who had come up behind him. "You alright? What happened?"

"I'm fine," Sam answered quickly. "Nothing happened, I got a weird phone call from you and then I came down here to try and find you. What happened to Tess?"

"Dr. Ellicott," Grace answered. "He's the one doing all of this. He experimented on his patients making them insane…or more insane, whatever. When the patients rioted Dr. Ellicott must have decided to continue his practice in the after life. He got to Tess and she…well she lost it."

"Are you sure?" Sam asked skeptically. "I mean, how do we know its Dr. Ellicott and not some rogue patient?"

"Because I found his log book," Dean chimed in. "Dr. Feelgood was working on some sort of, like, extreme rage therapy. He thought that if he could get his patients to vent their anger, then they'd be cured of it. Instead, it only made them worse and worse, and angrier and angrier. So we're thinking, what if his spirit is doing the same thing?"

"Just like the police officer and the kids from the seventies, it all makes sense," Grace concluded. "The log book also said that there was some sort of hidden room down here where Ellicott conducted his experiments. We have to find it and burn his bones."

"Well," Sam said with a faint chuckle, "don't you two make a nice team?" Dean ignored his comment, but Grace looked at him with an uneasy feeling. He has that look in his eyes…the same one Tess had.

"We'd better get started," Grace said. "Um Dean why don't you look over here with me…" Dean raised an eyebrow at him but the look she gave him in return silenced any objection.

"I looked everywhere and I didn't find a hidden room," Sam said interrupting their silent conversation. "Just because you two have made up some kind of _wonder_ team doesn't mean you're going to find something that isn't there." Dean went to argue with his brother, but Grace cut him off.

"You're right Sam; it must not be down here. Dean, why don't you and I check the map and see if we missed something? Sam could you guard Tess? I don't want her waking up and going postal again." Sam looked disgruntled but moved away from them a few steps, just enough for Grace to whisper to Dean and not be overheard.

"What's this all about?" Dean asked quietly. Grace pulled the map out and unfolded it on the makeshift table near the corner of the room. Grace placed her back to Sam to conceal their conversation.

"It's Sam," she whispered. "Dr. Ellicott got to him; he has this look in his eye. It's the same look Tess had before she lost it. We need to find those bones before Sam flips." Dean nodded.

"Alright, I'll keep him distracted, you find the bones. They must be down here somewhere." Dean looked up as he saw Sam approaching them.

"What are you talking about?" Sam snapped in an accusatory tone. "You're talking about me aren't you?" Neither of them had time to protest as Sam raised his gun.

"Put the gun down Sammy, you don't want to do this," Dean protested as he walked slowly around the table.

"Is that an order?" Sam asked.

"No, it's more of a friendly request," Dean said with a slightly teasing tone.

"Cause I'm getting pretty tired of taking your orders." Dean had slowly worked his way between Grace and Sam. Grace new immediately what Dean was planning. She began slowly backing away. Sam didn't seem to notice, he was too busy arguing with Dean.

"What are you ganna do, Sam? The gun's filled with rock salt. Not ganna kill me." Grace had successfully slipped into the other room when she heard the gun go off. Dean flew into the wall and landed with a sickening thud. "Sam! We gotta burn Ellicott's bones, and all this'll be over. You'll be back to normal." Dean's voice sounded pleading. Grace didn't have time to consider the similarity of situations between the pair of siblings. She had grabbed the salt from the bag and was frantically searching for the hidden room.

"I _am _normal. I'm just telling the truth for the first time!" Grace could still hear the bickering from the other room and she mentally pleaded with Dean to give her more time. "I mean, why are we even here? Because you're following Dad's orders like a good little soldier? 'Cause you always do what he says without question? Are you _that_ desperate for his approval?"

"This isn't you talking Sam…" the voices trailed away as Grace ducked into another adjoining room. Without the sound of Sam and Dean overpower her hearing she could hear the whistling of wind blowing. She crouched near a wall. There was definitely something behind the white cabinet. She struggled to pull it away from the wall and screamed as a corpse spilled out.

"Oh gross," she mumbled and tried not to breathe through her nose. She began pouring salt over body and as she went for her lighter she could feel something lurking behind her. Whether it was Sam or Dean she didn't know. She turned slowly.

"Don't be afraid…I'm going to help you."

X

Dean watched Sam collapsed to the ground after he successfully knocked him out. He hadn't hit him very hard. They way he saw it he had maybe two minutes before he'd wake up. That's when he heard Grace scream. He peeled into the other room only to find Grace pinned against the wall with the ghost of Dr. Ellicott shooting electricity into her brain.

"Hey!" Dean called and blasted a round of his rock salt into the back of Ellicott's head. "I don't think the lady wants to play." Grace slid to the ground clutching her head. "Are you alright?" he asked and Grace only nodded. She feebly pointed to something to his right. "That's disgusting," he said catching sight of the remains. He picked up Grace's fallen lighter and set it on fire.

"Let's get out of here," Grace said as she stood on trembling legs. Dean chuckled and they went back to check on their siblings.

"Sammy," Dean said as he knelt next to his brother. "Wake up." He gave his cheek a light slap and Sam's eye flickered open. "You're not going to try and kill me are you?" Sam looked confused for a moment, but when the cobwebs had cleared he offered a crooked smile.

"No," Sam answered. He felt an overwhelming sense of guilt wash over him as Dean helped him to his feet.

"Good, because that would be awkward." They both chuckled. Leave it to Dean to make jokes and lighten the mood.

"Tess isn't waking up," Grace said as the two brothers approached her. "She must have been under Ellicott's mind thing longer than we thought."

"It makes sense," Dean replied. "It was over an hour before we found her. We'll get her to the car." Grace nodded and went to retrieve the duffle bag. Sam moved to help Tess up, but Dean held up a hand. "I got her." Dean hoisted Tess over his shoulder. "What?" he asked in response to the weird look Sam was giving him. Sam shook his head and grinned. Sometimes he underestimated his brother.

X

Grace and Sam opted for the backseat of the car. Sam had suggested Grace ride with them instead of trying to drive due to the extreme migraine they both had from being subjected to Ellicott's torture. Both Sam and Grace had immediately fallen asleep upon the ignition starting.

Dean was starring at the road in front of him when he heard the woman in the passenger seat stir. He looked over at her and grinned.

"Morning Sunshine, sleep well?" He may have been joking on the outside, but inwardly he felt guilty for having clubbed the woman over the head. Tess rubbed her eyes and took in her surroundings. Sam and Grace were asleep in the back and there was a sharp pain in her skull.

"What the hell happened and why are you grinning like an idiot?" she asked and Dean couldn't resist a chuckle. Nothing would be able to knock the attitude out of this woman. Dean quickly relayed the story keeping his voice as sedate as possible so as not to wake the others. "So…you knocked me out?" she asked. Here it comes.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Then there was silence. He chanced looking over at Tess, but instead of meeting a death glare as he expected, she was leaning against the window again with her eyes tightly shut. The rest of the ride was silent. "You ok?" he finally asked as they pulled into the motel parking lot. Tess opened her eyes and offered a soft smile. The first smile he'd ever seen from her. He liked it.

"Grace," Tess whispered as she turned in her seat. The blonde woke immediately. "Why don't you go inside and lay down." Grace only nodded. Sam had already woken with the movement of other people and the four of them exited the car.

"You coming?" Grace asked Tess who lingered in the parking lot. Tess only shook her head and glanced at Dean. Grace didn't press the matter. Sam and Grace retreated to their respective room.

"Mind giving me a lift back to my car?" Tess asked Dean. He was standing in the rear of his car placing his weapons back where they belonged. He was surprised to hear no sarcasm in her question.

"You sure you can drive?" She glared at him. He chuckled. Tess was back. "Alright then, hop in." Tess occupied the passenger seat again as Dean sped off down the road. Signs of dawn lit the horizon as the dark sky began turning lighter shades of blue and the horizon line looked golden.

"Thank you," Tess said suddenly. Dean wasn't sure if she had spoken or he was imagining it so he looked over at her, but she wasn't making eye contact. "I could have…I mean I almost…I wanted to kill Grace," Tess stammered as she struggled to form her thoughts into sentences. "If you hadn't been there…I probably would have. So…thanks." With her last thank you she had looked up at him. Dark blue clashed with dark green and Dean felt the corner of his mouth turn upward.

"You're welcome," was all he said in reply. Sure he'd thought of a million jokes and one liners he could have delivered, but something told him that Tess wasn't one to say thank you so he appreciated this one sincerely.

The car pulled to a stop back at the asylum and Tess hesitated before getting out of the car. Dean could sense she wanted to say something.

"I don't do this often… actually I don't _ever_ do this," Tess said vaguely. Dean was starting to wonder if she was going to kiss him. She turned to look at him. "I figure I owe you one, so…" she took a deep breath and let out a frustrated sigh. "If you need anything…" she stopped and Dean connected the dots.

"Thanks I'll keep that in mind." Tess was grateful he hadn't made her finish her statement. "Wait…you said _anything_, right?" The arrogant smirk he was giving her made all semblance of gratitude vanish.

"God," she muttered as she quickly exited the car. Dean chuckled and waited for her to be safely in her car before turning back to the motel.

X

Sam and Grace were the first awake in the morning. They had both gotten more sleep than Tess and Dean so they decided to hit the bar for breakfast together.

"So where are you headed next?" Sam asked as he and Grace finished ordering their food.

"Hopefully Michigan," she said and took a drink of her coffee. "It's where Tess and I live…sort of. We have a house on the lake and I've been dying for a break. This job really gets to you, ya know?" Sam nodded.

"That sounds nice." Sam's eyes looked distant for a moment. He shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"You and Dean should come by sometime, maybe visit. After you find your dad and everything." Sam smiled.

"I'd like that." The two were starring at each other with smiles when the bar door swung open and Tess walked in. Grace felt heat rush to her face as she caught sight of her sister. Tess had chosen to adorn her usual morning bed head and oversized sweats. Tess sat down at their table and took Grace's coffee. "Morning," Sam said as politely as he could. Tess looked at him and took a drink of her coffee.

"Ignore my sister, she hasn't learned manners yet." Tess flipped her sister off. "Point proven."

"Well, I should be getting back to the room. Dean and I are going to need to hit the road soon." Sam stood and pulled his jacket on.

"I'll walk you out." The two left just as the waiter was delivering their food. Tess grinned and began feasting away at the meals.

"So, I did something that I'm not sure what you're going to think of," Grace admitted as they stood outside Sam's door. Grace pulled something from her pocket and handed it to him.

"You stole my wallet?" he asked with a furrowed brow. Grace chuckled and shook her head.

"No, you left it in the room the other night. I woke up this morning and found it…and I sort of looked through it." Sam wasn't sure what to think of that. "The truth is, I want to help you find your dad…I found a picture of him in your wallet and uploaded him onto SHIP. I don't know how much it will help, but Tess and I have over a hundred Watchers all over the country that will be keeping their eyes open for him." Sam was stunned. He felt the hope inside him swelling.

"Wow, Grace…I…" he surprised her by pulling her into a tight embrace. Grace hesitated before returning the hug. His cologne didn't escape her senses. "Thank you." He said pulling away and looking at her. "I can't tell you what this means."

"It's the least I could do for a fellow hunter…and a friend." Sam smiled. "I'll text you updates as soon as I get them…and I'm hoping you'll do the same?"

"Of course." He hugged her again and Grace felt a tugging sensation in her lower abdomen. "I'd better wake Dean up."

"I'll catch you later then." They gave each other parting smiles and Sam disappeared in the motel room. Grace turned around to head back for her room when she saw Tess standing not far behind her; a disapproving glare on her face. Grace ignored it and moved inside. Tess sighed. It was happening all over again…but it couldn't. She couldn't let it…not again…not again.

X

Tess hit her head on the hood of the car as she leaned over the engine. Dean had approached her from behind and startled her.

"Sorry," he muttered though it wasn't much of an apology. "Where's Grace?" he inquired demandingly.

"Getting a couple coffees, why?" Tess asked with a raised eyebrow. Dean looked hesitant for a moment, but answered.

"My dad called." Tess stood there not knowing what to say. Was that supposed to be important?

"Well…that's nice…guess you found him." Dean sighed.

"No, he called from a number my phone didn't recognize. I need Grace to track the number!"

"Give me the phone," Tess said and extended her hand. Dean fished it out of his pocket and handed it to her. Tess flipped it open, pulled up the call records screen and opened the last call. With her phone, she opened it up to the internet and punched in the phone number. "California..." Tess said as the screen changed. "In Sacramento at a bus stop."

"How did you do that?" Dean asked as he watched with keen interest. Tess handed him his phone back and gave him a cheeky grin.

"Payphone directory. Just type in the area code and it narrows it to state, add the rest of the number to find the specific phone. Don't worry Rookie," she said and gave his cheek a light slap, "you would have thought of it eventually."

"Funny, you're funny," he said sarcastically. "Sammy! Let's go!" he yelled over his shoulder. Grace had emerged from the bar and was talking with Sam. The two hugged and Sam began walking toward them. "What the hell is that about?" he asked Tess.

"Beats me, just keep your brother away from my sister." Tess said as she slammed the hood of the truck shut.

"Yeah, keep your sister away from my brother," Dean retorted. The two glared a silent agreement. "Catch you later Ace."

"Not if I can…"

"Remember, you owe me one." He winked and met Sam halfway and they turned toward the car. Tess rolled her eyes and climbed into car. Grace approached slowly and glanced over her shoulder as the black impala pulled out of the parking lot.

"Ready?" Grace asked from the passenger seat if the car. Tess forced herself to drink her coffee and nod instead of saying what she really wanted to. "Where to?"

"Indiana. We need to hit up one of our supply shacks. We're running low on ammunition and the radiator needs some work. I cemented it up again but it'll only last maybe another six or seven hundred miles."

"Oh," Grace said with a nod. She took a drink of her coffee. "Then where to after that?" Tess sighed and rested her head on the steering wheel. "Come on Tess, it's not that far out of the way. One week that's all I'm asking."

"Yeah, and then another week, and another week, and another one! Fine! How about I just drop you off at the house and we part ways, that's what you really want I know it."

"Stop it Tess, no you don't know!" Grace snapped. There was a long silence in the car before Grace finally spoke up. "Don't you get sick of this though?" Grace asked in a gentle voice. "Don't you want a normal life again? You know, before the hunting and the near death experiences?"

"We _never_ had a normal life Grace…ever! Did you forget the orphanage? We were born into this world…"

"And we'll die in this world unless we make the decision to leave it! Come on Tess. We could live in Michigan on the lake, go to college, have careers, get married, and live normal lives!"

"And what about them?" Tess asked and gestured to a family of five that was emerging from a car. A husband and wife were corralling their three children, two girls and a boy. "Will they have a normal life if there's no one to protect them?"

"We have SHIP. We'll keep up with the network and make sure that our Watchers are still connected. We can pass our store houses on to other hunters, you know. We could be the brains behind the operation and…and someone else can be the muscle."

"Bystanders you mean?" Tess asked with a sharp edge to her voice. "Watching only goes so far, Grace. How many hunters do you think are out there? Not enough; that's the answer. So we give up and someone else gets stuck with all of our work? Who? Grace? Who's going to pick up our load? Our Watchers? The Winchesters? No, Grace, we have a job to do and we're doing it." Grace opened her mouth to argue. "End of story!" The car roared to life and Tess floored it. She was livid…and hurt.


	8. Left Behind

**A/N Hurry up and review, the next chapter is REALLY good.**

"And before you leave, one of our apple pies," a woman named Stacy said as she handed a young woman a box with an apple pie in it. "On the house."

"Oh my God, thank you so much," the young woman named Holly said. She turned to her husband and smiled at him as they headed toward their car. "Hey, we should get lost more often. I mean, everyone in this town is so nice."

"Yeah, what's the catch?" Vince asked with a hint of teasing in his voice. The young couple walked across the old gas station and over to their car.

"You're all set," an older man said. By all appearances he was a friendly mechanic, but the people of the town knew better…

"Thanks," Vince said and opened the door for his wife before moving around to the driver's side.

"That's a cool tattoo," a teenage girl named Emily said admiring the stranger's marking as he shook hands with her uncle.

"Thanks," Vince replied and slid into the driver's seat. Emily walked back toward the diner while her uncle gave the strangers directions to the interstate. She had no idea that later that evening those two strangers would be dead. Killed by a pagan god…all for the sake of an apple pie.

X

"Alright, so, the names Dad gave us, they're all couples?" Sam asked from the driver's seat of the black impala.

"Three different couples. All went missing," Dean answered. It had been early that morning that they'd received a mysterious phone call from their father. Their never-ending search for him had taken a dramatic twist. John Winchester didn't want to be found.

"And they're all from different towns? Different states?" Sam continued with his questioning.

"That's right. You got Washington, New York, Colorado. Each couple took a road trip cross-country. None of them arrived at their destination, and none of them were ever heard from again."

"Well, it's a big country, Dean. They could've disappeared anywhere," Sam offered. Sam had always been more skeptical than Dean was. He was the _smart_ one...the college student unlike Dean.

"Yeah, could've. But each one's route took them to the same part of Indiana. Always on the second week of April. One year after another after another." Now Sam was beginning to see the connection.

"This is the second week of April…"

"Yep."

"So, Dad is sending us to Indiana to go hunting for something before another couple vanishes?" Dean could hear the suspicion in Sam's voice, if he didn't act quickly college boy was going to make the connection.

"Yahtzee. Can you imagine putting together a pattern like this? All the different obits Dad had to go through? The man's a master…" Sam hit the break and pulled the car over to the side of the road. "What are you doing?"

"We're not going to Indiana," he declared. Dean resisted a sigh of frustration.

"We're not…"

"No!" Sam snapped. "We're going to California. Dad called from a payphone. Sacramento area right?" Dean nodded. "Look, if this demon killed Mom and Jess, and Dad's closing in, we've gotta be there. We've gotta help!"

"Dad doesn't want our help," Dean argued.

"I don't care!" Sam protested.

"He's given us an order!"

"I-Don't-Care!" Sam said sternly. "We don't _always_ have to do what he says…"

"Sam, Dad is asking us to work jobs, to save lives, it's important," Dean defended. He couldn't understand why Sam wasn't seeing his point.

"Alright, I understand, believe me, I understand. But I'm talking one week here, man, to get answers. To get revenge!"

"Alright, look, I know how you feel…" Dean couldn't even finish his thought before he was cut off by Sam's temper.

"Do you?" Sam's tone of voice had startled Dean. "How old were you when Mom died? Four? Jess died six months ago. How the hell would you know how I feel?"

"Dad said it wasn't safe. For any of us. I mean, he obviously knows something that we don't, so if he says to stay away, we stay away." There was a finality to Dean's voice that annoyed Sam beyond reason.

"I don't understand the blind faith you have in the man. I mean, it's like you don't even question him," Sam ranted.

"Yeah, it's called being a good son!" Dean yelled. Sam threw the car door open and got out slamming the door behind him. Dean's comment had touched a sensitive nerve. He'd crossed the line. Dean followed and watched as Sam pulled his stuff out of the trunk of the car. "You're a selfish bastard, you know that? You just do whatever you want. Don't care what anybody thinks."

"That's what you really think?"

"Yeah it is!"

"Well, then this selfish bastard is going to California," Sam retorted and pulled his bag on over his shoulder.

"Come on you're not serious?" Dean asked in shock. Would Sam really leave him alone…again?

"I am serious." Sam said backing away from the car.

"It's the middle of the night!" Dean protested. Sam continued to walk away. "Hey, I'm taking off, I will leave your ass, you hear me?" For a moment Dean hoped…thought that Sam had changed his mind about leaving because he turned to face him.

"That's what I want you to do." Dean felt a stab of pain in his chest. So this was it? Just like that they were out of each other's lives again?

"Goodbye, Sam." Dean turned on his heel and slipped into the car. Sam watched as the impala drove away. He scoffed and began walking back the direction they had driven only minutes earlier.

X

Tess pulled her truck into a motel parking lot. It was getting late and they were almost to the store shack. Grace was asleep in the passenger seat and she didn't bother to wake her. Instead she went into the motel, rented a room, and went to bed. Neither she nor Grace had spoken after their argument and Tess certainly wasn't going to be the one to rectify the situation. Grace was the one with the problem.

Grace opened her eyes in time to see Tess enter a motel room. Her sister really was a bitch sometimes. Grace didn't have much time to think on the matter as she felt her phone vibrate. Her heart flipped in her chest when she saw it was Sam.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Uh…hey Grace, this is Sam." He sounded nervous.

"Hey is everything alright?" There was silence on the other end. "Sam?"

"Yeah, yeah everything is fine…just fine…sort of…"

"Sort of?"

"Yeah well me and Dean sort of went our separate ways."

"What!?" Grace asked and nearly dropped the phone. "I thought you two were going to find your dad."

"Yeah about that…see when my dad called he left us a list of names. Apparently there's a group of couples that have gone missing in Burkitsville, Indiana the first week of April every year for a long time."

"Wow, that's…weird, but what does that have to do with finding your father? Is he going to meet you there or something?"

"Not exactly…see he told us to sort of…not to look for him anymore." Grace wasn't sure she was hearing Sam correctly. "He's…um…he's tracking something big, something dangerous. It um…it killed my mom when I was just a baby. It's how our family got into hunting."

"Then you have to go after it too!" Grace exclaimed. "Why wouldn't your dad want you to be there?"

"I don't know, to keep us safe I guess, but it doesn't matter I have to find him. Last we heard he was in California. I'm trying to find my way there now…but Dean took the car."

"Oh," Grace said with realization. Sam was calling because he needed something. _Why else would he call?_ She asked herself. "I'm not sure what I can do Sam, where are you?"

"On my way to a bus station in Gravity Hill, Indiana." Grace sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Let me get in touch with a couple Watchers in Indiana and see if any of them can hook you up with a car," Grace offered.

"You can't come yourself?" his question caught her off guard. "I mean…thanks I appreciate that." Grace shrugged his question off.

"Yeah, give me a call when you get to the bus station, I should have something by then. Oh and be careful."

"Yeah, thanks, you too." Grace hung up, grabbed her laptop, and exited the car. She walked into the motel room Tess had entered and slammed the door. The sleeping form on the farthest bed jerked away.

"Oops," Grace said insincerely. Tess muttered a few curses and rolled over. Grace sat on the edge of the vacant bed, turned her laptop on and began to work.

X

"We're famous for our apples. So, you gotta try this pie," the diner owner named Scotty said to a young couple seated at the table. The young woman began to protest, but Scotty insisted. "It's on the house." The bell above the diner door rang as Dean entered. It hadn't taken him long to earn a reputation in town. He was already hated for his prying questions.

"Oh, hey, Scotty. Can I get a coffee, black?" Dean asked and Scotty glared at him before walking off. "Oh, and some of that pie, too, while you're at it." Dean loved his ability to get under people's skin. He considered it a talent. Dean sat down at the table next to the couple he was sure was going to be the next victims of the disappearances. "How ya doing? Just passing through?"

"Road trip," the woman answered. Dean grinned. If she hadn't been sitting across from a young man and wearing an engagement ring he was sure he would be able to sweet talk her into something.

"Hmm. Yeah, me too," Dean replied. Scotty walked over and refilled what looked to be apple cider in their cups.

"I'm sure these people want to eat in peace," Scotty said glaring at Dean. This only provoked another arrogant smirk from him.

"Just a little friendly conversation." Scotty reluctantly turned, "Oh, and that coffee, too, man. Thanks." The man's shoulder's visibly tensed and the rest of his body went rigid with aggravation as well. "So, what brings you to town?" Dean asked retuning his focus to the couple.

"We just stopped for gas. And, uh, the guy at the gas station saved our lives," the woman said with zeal.

"Yeah, one of our brake lines was leaking. We had no idea. He was fixing it for us," her fiancé finished. "We should be out of here by sundown."

"Really?" Dean asked in shock "To fix a brake line? I mean, you know, I know a thing or two about cars. I could probably have you up and running in about an hour. I wouldn't charge you anything." Dean knew he was being obvious, but he was getting desperate.

"You know," the woman spoke up, "thanks a lot, but I think we'd rather have a mechanic do it."

"Sure. I know." He hesitated but decided drastic measures call for blunt words." You know, it's just that these roads. They're not real safe at night." The couple looked at him with shock and skepticism. "I know it sounds strange, but, uh… you might be in danger…"

"Look man we're trying to eat here." Dean relented. He wasn't going to win with one especially with Scotty breathing down his neck.

"Yeah. You know, my brother could give you this puppy dog look, and you'd just buy right into it…" the bell above the door rang again and Dean looked up in time to see the sheriff and Scotty starring at him. That was his cue to leave. "See you around." He stood and headed toward the door. "Scotty, thanks for the coffee," Dean said sarcastically as he slipped outside.

X

Tess pulled back into the motel parking lot later that afternoon. She had gone to the storage shack alone. Grace had been too engrossed with her laptop and phone to bother coming. This only managed to anger Tess more.

"I know, I'm sorry Sam, but tomorrow morning is the soonest they can get there," Grace was saying into her phone. Tess stopped in the doorway. "Yeah, alright. Keep me updated and be careful. That woman you're with sounds suspicious…ok, bye."

"Wow, Grace blowing me off for a guy. Now there's something I haven't heard before." Grace sighed and turned to her sister.

"He needs my help, ok?" she asked in an exasperated voice. Tess slammed the door shut and grabbed for Grace's laptop. "What are you doing?" Grace shrieked.

"I'm packing your stuff!" Tess yelled. "You want to go to Michigan, fine! We're seven hours from the lake house. I'm dropping you off!"

"What do you mean, dropping me off?" Grace had to grab her laptop away from Tess for fear it would be broken.

"I mean, I'm leaving you there! I'm sick of this! You want to be the brains behind the operation, then fine! You be the brains I'll be the muscle, then everyone's happy." Grace visibly paled.

"You…you're going to hunt alone?" Tess ignored the fear in her sister's voice and grabbed her own bag.

"We both knew it was going to happen sooner or later. I'm just deciding to do it now rather than putting it off." Grace was speechless. She didn't want to part ways with Tess…she wanted both of them to have a better life. But how could she say that now? Tess' mind was made up.

X

"So, what, are you on some kind of vacation or something?" Sam asked the blonde haired woman. Her name was Meg and he'd first run into her the night he and Dean had parted ways. A fellow hitchhiker and a little strange, they met up again in the bus station after Meg received a ride from a shady van driver.

"Yeah, right. It's all sipping Cristal poolside for me," she said sarcastically and they both chuckled. "No. I had to get away from my family"

"Why is that?" Grace's words rang in his ear. _She sounds suspicious_. The thought had entered his mind more than once, but she seemed harmless enough.

"I love my parents. And they wanted what's best for me. They just didn't care if I wanted it. I was supposed to be smart. But not smart enough to scare away a husband. It's just…because my family said so, I was supposed to sit there and do what I was told. So I just went on my own way instead." Sam felt the familiarity of her words. He remembered why he had left the hunting _business_ to attend college and it was for that very reason. "I'm sorry. The things you say to people you hardly know."

"No, no it's okay. I know how you feel. Remember that brother I mentioned before, that I was road-tripping with?" Med nodded. "It's, uh, it's kind of the same deal.

"And that's why you're not riding with him anymore?" It was Sam's turn to nod. "Here's to us. The food might be bad, and the beds might be hard. But at least we're living our own lives. And nobody else's." Sam smiled and hit the end of his bottle to hers.

X

Grace felt her phone vibrate and opened it. Sam had texted her. Tess kept her eyes on the dark road in front of them and pretended to ignore her sister.

_'Talked to Dean. It's a pagan god killing the couples. Any idea how to kill a god?'_ Grace hit the reply button.

'Not in the least. Any idea what kind god pagan god it is? Greek? Norse? Egyptian?' after pressing the send button she waited and received Sam's response.

'_No, not yet. Dean's doing more research. I'll call you with more information. I'm not going anywhere till morning right?_' Grace chuckled to herself. She hesitated before replying.

'So…you talked to Dean? Are you two still…you know…on your own paths?' she was curious for his answer. Maybe he had some advice. If not, it looked like she was going to be on her own too.

'_I guess you could say that. Dean and I have separate lives, we always have. He understands that now, but we'll always be brothers_.' Always…she and Tess would always be sisters, no matter where they were. Maybe Sam was right. Sometimes people have to walk their own path and this was the time for her to walk separately from Tess.

They were nearing the lake house. Tess pulled the truck off of the paved road and onto a gravel driveway that spanned into the woods for three miles before ending at the house.

It was a three story manor built in the early 1900's; seven bedrooms, three and a half baths. Painted a cream color and trimmed with a dark green, the house fit perfectly among the tall trees. The front yard was filled with thick green grass and there was a black steel fence that separated it from the driveway.

Tess pulled the truck onto the lawn and threw it into park. From the rearview mirror she could see the dock that stretched over the lake. It was still dark out and the water looked black.

"Are you going to stay the night?" Grace asked quietly. Tess glanced over at her sister. "I mean, you've been driving all night…you must be tired."

"Not really," Tess lied. She was in fact very tired. She hadn't slept since the night before and she could still feel a migraine creeping up the back of her neck from the effects of Dr. Ellicott.

"Oh," was all Grace could say. "I guess…I'll see you around then." Grace placed her hand on the door handle but something stopped her from pulling it. "Come on Tess, one day!"

"Fine." Grace blinked rapidly. That hadn't taken much convincing. "You go ahead. I need a minute." Grace nodded and exited the car with her bag hanging off one shoulder. Tess watched as Grace crossed the lawn and opened the front door to the house. A moment alter there was light coming form inside.

It had been over six months since Tess had been to this house. She'd spent four years living in this house and she still couldn't bring herself to call it home. Her adoptive parents Mason and Christine Beckett had been all but the perfect parents. They'd left the house to Tess and Grace when they moved to Florida for an early retirement. It was a beautiful house, there was no denying it.

Still, Tess couldn't shake the feeling she got when she looked at it. The dark green shutters, the trimmed lawn and even the sun that rose over the lake seemed so…familiar…so distant in her memory.

Tess' thoughts were interrupted by a noisy vibration. Tess looked to her right and saw Grace's phone had fallen to the floor under the dashboard. She grabbed it and was about to hit the rejection button when she saw the call was from Sam.

"Hello?" Tess asked. She had every intention of telling Sam to leave her sister alone, but his voice sounded frantic.

"Grace?" he asked.

"No this is Tess."

"Where's Grace?"

"She's busy."

"Oh…can I talk to her?"

"No…she's _busy_."

"I need her help…its Dean." Tess felt the blood rush from her face.

"What's wrong? Is everything alright?"

"I don't have time to explain everything," Sam said quickly. "But I can't get a hold of Dean. I've been trying to call him for the last four hours and he won't pick up his phone. Dean _always_ answers his phone."

"What do you need?" Even Tess was surprised by her willingness to help. She chalked it up to the fact that she owed Dean a favor…and nothing else.

"I have to get to Burkitsville in Indiana. Dean was investigating some sort of pagan god…I think something may have happened to him."

"Where are you now?"

"At a bus station in Gravity Hill." Tess pulled the state map from between the visor and the roof of the car. "Tess?"

"Yeah, hold on a second." Tess quickly located Gravity Hill. "Ok, I'm about five hours north of you, can you hold off until I get there?"

"Um…yeah, yeah I guess so. Hurry though." Tess shut the phone and started the car. She stared at the house in front of her and saw the light to Grace's room was on. She should tell her. Without her phone Grace would have no idea where Tess had gone…

"Serves you right," Tess muttered. She threw the car into reverse, turned the car around, and floored it. _Let's see how you like being left behind_…


	9. Endearment

Dean groaned as he opened his eyes. Memories flooded him. He'd been patrolling the night before when something, or rather someone had clubbed him over the head. Now he was sitting in the bottom of a cellar weaponless and phoneless. _Great_.

Before he had time to really consider the matter, the cellar door was thrown open and the teenage girl he recognized as Emily was being held by her aunt and uncle.

"Aunt Stacy. Uncle Harley, please. Why are you doing this?" Harley and Stacy forced her down the stairs and Stacy brushed some hair from Emily's eyes.

"For the common good," she said in a sickly calm voice before shutting and locking the cellar door. Emily looked to Dean, but in the dark they could barely see one another.

"Hi," Dean said lamely. Emily collapsed to the cellar floor crying softly.

X

Tess barely slowed the car down as she approached the bus stop. Sam was standing outside pacing nervously. By the looks of him he'd been doing it since he'd called. Tess, had she not been so exhausted, would have beamed with pride that she'd made a five hour drive in a little over four. The empty streets and late hour helped, but still, it took a certain level of skill to drive that quickly.

"Get in!" Tess hollered. Sam snapped his head in the direction he'd heard her voice and ran for the car.

"It's about time! Dean could be dead by now!"

"Nice to see you too Sam," Tess said sarcastically.

"Where's Grace?" Sam asked as he noticed his blonde friend wasn't sitting in the backseat as he assumed.

"She's not coming." Sam wanted to ask more, but when he saw Grace's cell phone sitting in the cup holder he assumed it was a conversation he should avoid.

Tess sped off toward Burkitsville. The two were silent for awhile, but after Tess inquired more about the situation, Sam obliged in relaying all that he knew.

X

"I don't understand…" Emily said from the Cellar floor. Dean had taken to ramming his shoulder into the cellar door in an attempt to open it. However, it proved unsuccessful. "They're going to kill us?"

"Sacrifice us. Which is, I don't know, classier, I guess?" He ceased his escape attempts and walked over to Emily. "You really didn't know anything about this, did you?"

"About what?" she asked in a high pitched voice. "The scarecrow god? I can't believe this."

"Well, you better start believing, cause I'm gonna need your help." The panic in Emily's eyes subsided.

"Now, we can destroy the scarecrow, but we have to find the tree." Emily looked bewildered.

"What tree?" she asked and an idea struck Dean.

"Maybe you can help me with that. It would be really old. The locals would treat it with a lot of respect, you know, like it was sacred."

"There was this one apple tree. The immigrants brought it over with them. They call it the First Tree," Emily answered.

"Is it in the orchard?"

"Yeah, but I don't know where…" their conversation abruptly came to an end as the cellar door was thrown open.

"It's time," Stacy said as she looked down at the two. Emily and Dean exchanged nervous glances. At least they were getting to the orchard.

X

"So," Sam said twenty minutes into the drive, "when are you planning on telling me why Grace isn't here?"

"I wasn't," Tess said shortly. The last thing she wanted to talk about at that moment was her sister. She was focused on the hunt. That's how she preferred it.

"Ok, well I think you should tell me about it." Tess arched an eyebrow and momentarily looked at Sam before returning her gaze to the road. "Is she alright?"

"Do you really think I'd be here helping you if she wasn't?" Sam shrugged and Tess sighed. "Grace is in Michigan. We have a house there and she elected to stay behind."

"Really?" Sam asked with a hint of skepticism. "She _elected_? Is that why she left her phone in your car?"

"Ok, so I elected for her," Tess admitted but not without frustration in her voice. "What does it matter, I'm helping you aren't I?"

"Call it curiosity," Sam said. "Did you two have a fight or something?" Tess was about to lay into him for is intrusive questions, but when she looked over at him, the concern in his eyes caught her off guard. Though she'd never admit it, the puppy dog look got to her every time. It was usually how Grace got her way. Tess chuckled to herself and shook her head.

"I guess you could call it a fight, but its more like a difference of lifestyle." Sam's silence was his only prompting for her to continue. "Grace wants to quit the hunting gig. She has for over a year now."

"And you don't?" wow…he was either a great actor or he was sincere. His question sounded almost heartfelt.

"No I don't. It's my life. Killing things, hunting monsters, saving lives, it's not just what I do…it's who I am. The thought of the _perfect life_ as Grace would call it isn't appealing to me."

"I can understand that. My dad is the same way. Dean is too." Tess snorted but Sam continued as though she hadn't. "It doesn't matter how many kills they have, they always need one more."

"And you?" Tess asked and turned the tables on him. "You don't sound so happy about their decision.

"I miss my old life. I was a student at Stanford studying to be a doctor." Tess let out a low whistle. "Yeah, yeah it was pretty great. I had friends, classes were great, and then there was Jess…"

"And you gave all that up for this life of luxury?" Tess asked sarcastically. "Why?" Sam didn't answer at first. "Hey, I don't have the puppy dog thing going for me so if you're waiting for the sympathetic look you're not going to get one. I'm afraid you're just going to have to be honest." Sam laughed and ran a hand through his hair; a nervous habit.

"Jess, my girlfriend, she uh…was killed six months ago." Tess felt the unfamiliar feeling of guilt come over her.

"Wow, I'm sorry to hear that." Sam gave her an appreciative smile. "How did it happen if you don't mind me asking?" Tess was beginning to think Sam's compassion was contagious because she couldn't help feeling it for him.

"Something got her," Sam said with a tight voice. "We don't know what, but it got my mom when I was just a baby. Dean was four when it happened and my dad has been hunting ever since. He thinks it might be a demon." Sam was going out on a limb here. He wasn't sure if he could trust her or not, but at this point he was making a conscious decision to. He owed her that after coming to his aid to help Dean.

"A demon…" Tess felt a shiver run down her spine and Sam looked at her with confusion. "I hope and pray that it isn't."

"You've encountered one before?" he asked with eagerness. Tess only nodded. "How did you kill it?"

"We didn't," Tess said quietly. "It's almost impossible to kill a demon, Sam. They're not your average ghoul. You can kill a demon's body and send it back to hell, but it will just find another body. When Grace and I met up with Damien, we were only able to bind his spirit to one body."

"Then what happened?" Tess felt her throat constricting at the memory. Her lip curled as she thought of Damien's face.

"He got away." There was a finality to her voice that told Sam not to press anymore. "I guess we have more in common than we thought," she said smiling. Sam grinned and nodded. The rest of the car ride was silent, but they both knew that there was something that linked the four hunters together now…only neither of them could fathom the depths.

X

"How many people have you killed, Sheriff?" Dean asked hoping to distract the man from tying the ropes too tightly. It wasn't fifteen minutes after the cellar door opened that Dean and Emily were placed with their backs against a tree and their hands tied above their heads in the orchard waiting for their impending doom. "How much blood is on your hands?"

"We don't kill them," the sheriff said indignantly. Dean rolled his eyes and scoffed. Did this man really think he was innocent?

"No, but you sure cover up after. I mean, how many cars have you hidden, clothes have you buried?" Dean winced as the sheriff pulled the rope tight. He always did take things one step too far.

"Uncle Harley, please," Emily pleaded. Her uncle looked down at her with sympathetic eyes.

"I am so sorry, Em. I wish it wasn't you." For a moment Dean almost believed the man.

"Try to understand," Stacy said approaching her niece. "It's our responsibility. And there's just no other choice. There's nobody else but you."

"I'm your family…" Emily was crying again and Dean couldn't blame her. He wasn't really seeing a way out of this one.

"Sweetheart, that's what sacrifice means. Giving up something you love for the greater good. The town needs to be safe. The good of the many outweighs the good of the one." The four 'elders' walked back toward their cars.

"I hope your apple pie is freaking worth it!" Dean yelled after them. He could feel Emily struggling against her restraints, but he knew it was useless.

"So, what's the plan?" Emily asked. Dean sighed and leaned farther back against the tree.

"Uh, well…I'm working on it…"

X

Tess pulled her truck into the parking lot of a diner called Scotty's. Sam pointed it out as the same diner Dean had mentioned. The two exited the car quickly. Tess felt her legs trembling beneath her. It had been a long day of driving.

"So we're looking for a corn field?" Tess asked as they approached the door. Sam opened it for her and they entered.

"Or an orchard, wherever they keep a scarecrow." The two stopped just inside the door. There were several people inside the diner and they were all staring at Sam and Dean. "Play along," Sam whispered behind her. "Uh hey, we're lost, any idea how to get to the interstate?" The sheriff stood and greeted them.

"Well hey there, why don't you two come on in and have a cup of cider." Tess glanced at Sam who led the way to a booth. A waitress came over and poured them two glasses and began chatting with them. "You two on some kind of road trip?"

"Yep," Sam said quickly and he smiled at Tess who couldn't help grinning in amusement. The waitress listened intently as the two began weaving a lie that they were a couple traveling cross country.

"Two sacrifices, that should appease him don't you think?" the sheriff asked Harley and Stacy who were standing by the counter.

"Sure it would, but we'd better be quick, it's almost sunset," Harley said. He was hoping that if he got the two of them their quick enough, maybe Emily wouldn't have to die.

"So you're going to take a left on Chesapeake and it's straight from there," the sheriff said as he walked back over to Tess and Sam. "Why don't I just escort you there?"

"That'd be great," Sam said cutting Tess off. They had to walk quickly to keep up with the sheriff as he practically ran outside. Tess and Sam hopped into the truck and began following the patrol car.

"Sam, did you forget that we need to find your brother!" Tess said as she rounded the corner onto Chesapeake.

"Of course not, but something isn't right with these people. The pagan god needs one male and one female sacrifice. They have to be leading us to the scarecrow; they wouldn't risk only sacrificing one."

"Unless they found another woman somewhere…" Sam looked as though he were thinking about it for a moment.

"Wait," he said pointing out the window. "Orchard. I told you they were leading us here." Tess looked at the foreboding apple orchard. It looked frightening during sunset.

"How do they expect us to stop…?" Tess' question was answered with a loud bang. The car swerved and Tess slammed on the breaks. The car slid to a stop in the grass near the apple orchard. "What the hell!" Tess yelled as she practically fell from the driver's side. The front tire of the car had completely exploded. The patrol car pulled to a stop near the truck and the sheriff got out. "Flat tire," Tess called and knelt near the wheel.

"Get up!" the sheriff yelled. Sam grabbed Tess' arm and pulled her to her feet drawing her attention to the shotgun that was aimed at them. "I'll take your cell phones."

"I think we'd better listen to him, _honey_," Sam said and tugged Tess' arm. Sam and Tess pulled their cell phones from their pockets and tossed them to the sheriff.

"Now walk," he ordered and gestured to the orchard. Tess barely managed to grab her bag out of the driver's seat before Sam pulled her toward the orchard.

"Honey?" Tess asked as soon as they were out of earshot. Sam looked down at her with a sheepish look on his face.

"I didn't want him getting suspicious," he said defensively. Tess chuckled as they ducked farther into the trees.

"For a moment there I was worried you were getting a crush on me." Sam grinned as she winked at him.

"Let's just find Dean and get the hell out of here," Sam suggested.

X

"You don't have a plan, do you?" Emily asked in realization. It was dark already and so far all the two had managed to do was give themselves rope burn on their wrists.

"I'm working on it," Dean said with a hint of panic in his voice. "Can you see?" he asked referring to the scarecrow. "Is he moving yet?"

"I can't see," Emily said and she squirmed for a better view. Then something in front of her moved. "Oh my God." That wasn't what Dean wanted to hear. He tried desperately to wriggle his hands from the rope. "Oh my God!" Emily screamed.

"Dean?" Dean jerked his head to the right and felt a wave of relief wash over him as he saw his brother standing there.

"Oh! Oh, I take everything back I said," Dean exclaimed as Sam came into full view. "I'm so happy to see you." Sam began untying the blonde girl's ropes first. "How'd you get here?" That was when he saw the second figure.

"Hey Rookie, miss me?" Tess asked as she knelt in the thick leaves next to him. Dean's eyes widened for two reasons; the first being he was surprised to see her, the second was that he really was happy to see her…

"Just untie me," he snapped. Tess smiled down at him cheekily as she freed his right wrist. "And keep an eye on that scarecrow. He could come alive any minute."

"What scarecrow?" Sam and Tess asked at the same time. The girl was already free and Sam helped her to her feet. Tess grabbed Dean's hand and hauled him to his feet.

"We need to get out of here," he said meeting her eyes. Tess nodded and the four of them began running back the direction Sam and Tess had come from.

"How are we supposed to stop this scarecrow thing?" Tess asked as they continued to run. Their pace was limited by the young woman with them.

"It's a god," Dean said knowingly. "The only way to kill it is to burn the Sacred Tree. It's where it gets its powers."

"Of course," Tess said sarcastically. "Why didn't I think of that…"

"So let's find it and burn it," Sam suggested stating the obvious.

"Nah, in the morning. Let's just shag ass before Leather Face catches up," Dean said as they reached a clearing. Their path was blocked however by the four elders; the sheriff still with his shotgun. "This way," he said grabbing Emily's arm and pulling her closer to him. They turned but there were more of them. Townspeople were blocking them on every side except for the path that led back into the orchard.

"Please. Let us go," Emily begged. Dean didn't release her arm and the other two hunters did their best to shield her from the other townspeople.

"It'll be over quickly," Harley said with an almost sympathetic tone. The air was suddenly filled with a sound like heavy breathing and the leaves around the small circle were blown as though by a wind.

"Please," Emily pleaded. Dean and Tess made eye contact. This wasn't looking good. Tess discreetly slipped her hand into her satchel bag and revealed a hand gun. Dean shook his head.

"Emily, you have to let him take you," Harley continued. Now he was the one pleading. "You have to…" Stacy screamed as the pointed end of a sickle pierced Harley's chest. Emily screamed and buried her face in Dean's chest as the scarecrow was seen standing behind the two adults. Stacy screamed louder as the scarecrow wrapped its arm around her neck and began pulling her backward. After hooking Harley through the leg with his sickle he pulled his sacrifices into the orchard and out of sight, though the screams lasted much longer.

"Come on, let's go," he said and the small group began running away from the orchard. They only made it a few feet before they heard the heavy breathing again. Dean pulled Emily to a stop and Sam and Tess stood next to them.

"They're gone," Tess said as they looked behind them. "Looks like the scarecrow got his sacrifice."

"Now what?" Emily asked as they all felt the fear of danger slowly passing. She looked up at Dean and he gave her a soft smile.

X

They waited on the outskirts of the orchard until morning. Once the sun came up it didn't take them long to locate the tree. It was much larger than the others and Emily recognized a tattoo marking on the tree that looked exactly like the one on the arm of one of the men sacrificed to the scarecrow. Dean picked up a branch and lit it on fire.

"Let me," Emily asked after Sam had doused the tree with gasoline. Dean carefully handed her the branch.

"You know, the whole town's ganna die," he warned. Emily's face turned from soft to bitter and her eyes glazed over as she looked into the flames.

"Good." She tossed the branch against the tree and it quickly became engulfed with flames. Dean placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and Emily hugged him. Dean glanced at Tess over Emily's shoulder as she stood next to Sam. It was the end of long day and the beginning of another.

X

Sam and Dean watched Emily board a bus headed to Boston. She waved at them from the window and they both returned the gesture before the bus sped off.

"Think she's going to be alright?" Sam asked as they turned away from the station.

"I hope so," Dean answered truthfully.

"And the rest of the townspeople, they'll just get away with it?" Sam inquired with a hint of resentment. He had half a mind to torch the whole town for what they'd done.

"Well, what'll happen to the town will have to be punishment enough," Dean replied. "So, can I drop you off somewhere?" he asked as they approached his car.

"No," Sam said with a sigh. "I think you're stuck with me." Dean looked back at Sam who was a few paces behind him. They both stopped walking.

"What made you change your mind?" Sam shrugged.

"I didn't. I still wanna find Dad. And you're still a pain in the ass." Now it was Dean's turn to shrug. "But, Jess and Mom—they're both gone. Dad is God knows where. You and me. We're all that's left. So, if we're going to see this through, we're ganna do it together."

"Hold me, Sam. That was beautiful," Dean said and intentionally made his voice sound motional. He put a hand on Sam's shoulder, but he quickly shrugged it off and smiled.

"You should be kissing my ass, you were dead meat, dude!" Sam called as Dean began walking toward his car.

"Yeah, right. I had a plan, I'd have gotten out," Dean said arrogantly.

"Right," Sam retorted sarcastically. They approached the car, but both stopped as they heard a familiar voice coming from the gas station across the street. Tess was yelling at a gas station attendant who was trying to change the tire on her car. Sam and Dean exchanged looks and both shut their car doors and walked across the street.

"Just get out of the way, you're going to bend the rim," Tess snapped and pushed the man out of the way. She knelt on the ground and finished tightening the bolts on the new tire. Sam and Dean chuckled as they heard the attendant mutter something that sounded a lot like the word '_bitch_' as he walked past them.

"Making friends wherever she goes," Dean said sarcastically. "We're really going to need to work on your people skills." Tess grinned and stood.

"Handing out personality lessons, Dean? Can't imagine there'd be much money in that for someone like you," Tess teased. She wiped her hands on a rag and tossed it into the driver's side window that was rolled down. "You two kiss and make up?"

"More or less," Sam said smiling before Dean could throw in a sarcastic comment. Tess smiled for real this time and both brothers felt it was contagious.

"Glad to hear it." Dean gave her an incredulous look and Tess chuckled. "I mean I don't mind Sam knocking on my door every once in awhile looking for _comfort_, but we can't make this a regular habit. I mean I got places to go, things to kill. Right _sweetheart_?" Tess asked. Dean's eyes widened and he looked at his younger brother.

"No I understand, _honey_," he teased. Tess and Sam exchanged a knowing glance, both barely able to keep from laughing at the shock on Dean's face.

"Guess we're even now, Rookie," Tess said to Dean who was still speechless. "I'll see you around, alright?" Tess cast one last look at Dean and decided to play her game a little more. "I'll definitely be seeing you, Sam," she said flirtatiously and kissed him on the cheek. Sam nearly lost it, but hid his smile by opening the car door for her and helping her inside. "Bye boys," she said and slipped her sunglasses on before driving off.

"W-what the hell was that?" Dean asked, or rather yelled, at Sam as the cloud of dust settled. Sam looked innocently at Dean.

"Nothing," he replied and began walking back across the street. Dean shook his head and followed after his brother.

"Did you sleep with her?" Sam looked back at Dean with a frown on his face.

"What? Of course not!"

"You did, didn't you!" Dean accused.

"Does it really matter?" Sam asked.

"I knew it! You did!"

"I never said that…"

"But you did, I know it!" Dean and Sam reached the car, but Dean was hardly ready to drop the subject. "Just tell me!"

"If you already know," Sam said slowly as though talking to a child, "then I don't need to tell you anything, do I?" Sam climbed into the driver's side of the car and Dean sat in the passenger side. There was silence as Sam started the car.

"How was it?"

X

Tess pulled over to the side of the road as she heard the vibrating of a phone. She was already exhausted and she didn't need talking on the phone as another distraction almost getting her killed. Grace's phone was lit up on the passenger seat. It was a message from Sam. _He knows I have Grace's phone…_She flipped it open and opened the text message screen.

'_Tess- it's not too late to make things right with Grace. Just remember she's family.'_ Tess took in a deep breath. Sam was sweet. It was kind of him to try and help, but Tess couldn't help but feel a slight resentment. Grace was the one in the wrong, not her. Why should she have to be the one to make things right. _…she's family…_

'Thanks Sam, but I'm not sure that this split is a bad thing. It seems like it's in both of our interests.'

'_Don't be dumb, you need her and she needs you. One argument isn't going to change that._'

'Really? What if we've fought about this more than once?' Tess asked. She couldn't help her eagerness to see his reply.

'_A thousand arguments won't change it. Trust me on this one. Flying solo in this world will get you killed. You need each other. Call Grace, you know you want to.'_ Tess was ready to admit defeat. Sam was rather convincing, even over text messaging.

'Who says I'm alone? I'll always have you sweetheart.' Tess could almost hear Sam laughing when she received a message back.

'_Anytime, honey. We'll always have Burkitsville._' Tess laughed before closing the phone. The Winchesters were odd people, but after their recent encounter she obtained a newfound respect for them. She tossed the phone onto the passenger seat, flipped her turn signal on, and pulled back onto the road passing the sign that read 'Now Entering Michigan'.


	10. Temper

**A/N Pictures are up on my website. See my profile for the link :)**

Grace was standing in the kitchen when she heard a familiar rumbling. She ran to the front door and threw it open. Tess was just getting out of the truck and Grace ran down the steps.

"Where the hell have you been!" Grace demanded but threw her arms around Tess' neck in a tight embrace. Tess laughed and returned the hug.

"Just went for some milk," she teased. "Miss me?" Grace pulled away and slapped Tess' arm. "Ow! What the hell?"

"Don't _ever_ leave like that! I was worried! You tell me you'll be right in and I look outside to see nothing but an empty yard and fresh tire tracks." Grace was furious but the relief was evident on her face.

"Yeah, well something came up," Tess said vaguely and walked past Grace and into the house. She dropped her keys on the small table in the foyer and walked through the large living room to the kitchen.

"What came up?" Grace asked from the open door of the kitchen. Tess pulled a bag of chips out of a cupboard and sat on one of the bar stools near the island.

"Nothing big," Tess lied. "Got a call from a Watcher…small gig in Indiana. It's all taken care of."

"Really? What was it?" Tess stuffed her mouth full of chips in order to give herself time to think of another lie. She wasn't sure why she was covering her tracks so much, but she knew one thing; Grace would be livid if she found out she'd gone to see the Winchesters without her.

"Um," Tess said swallowing. "Couple people went missing in a small town, turned out to be some ritual sacrifice. Just torched a tree and it was over."

"Really?" Grace asked. "Was it like a fountain of youth tree? Feeding people to the tree makes fruit that grants eternal youth?"

"Yeah, yeah sure that was it." Grace nodded and Tess forced a smile. "So I was thinking…"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Tess repeated. "I was thinking maybe I'd uh stay for a couple days, recover and uh…you know…maybe I could visit home…here more often." Grace smiled.

"I'd like that," Grace said softly. Tess made brief eye contact with Grace and forced a smile. She didn't like the idea, but sometimes…people had to make compromise.

"I'm beat. I'll be in bed for the next two days. Wake me and die." Tess stood and walked past Grace.

"Hey Tess," Grace called and she turned to face her. "It's good to have you back." Tess nodded and jogged up the wooden steps and out of sight. Tess walked to the last bedroom on the right and opened the door. It looked the same.

Golden yellow walls with a white painted ceiling matched the hardwood floor and golden throw rug perfectly. Chocolate brown mahogany dresser and a wardrobe were up against the far wall on either side of the glass door leading to the small balcony. There was a matching end table next to the bed. The bed frame matched the other furniture. The thick mattress was covered with gold sheets, a brown down comforter, and assorted gold and brown pillows. Tess dropped her satchel bag into the chair in the corner of the room and walked into the bathroom.

She smiled as she caught sight of the large bathtub in the corner of the room. So maybe staying in an actual house wasn't as bad as she thought it might be.

X

Grace walked across the lawn two days after Tess had come back. She opened the passenger side of the car and began rummaging through the items in the glove compartment. She had been unable to locate her phone since Tess left so she assumed she'd dropped it in the car. She was right.

"Yes!" she said as she found it on the floor of the car. As she made to check her messages she saw the battery was dead so she ran back into the house. Her room was on the ground level of the house through the living room on the right side.

Their adoptive mother Christine had designed both her and Tess' rooms when they were younger.

Grace's room was somewhat larger than Tess' as it was the master bedroom of the house.

There was a cream colored throw rug covering most of the hard wood floor. The walls and ceiling were a burnt cream color with black trim. There was a lounge chair and a round table made of a tan wood to the right of the door. A wardrobe stood across the room that was made of the same tan wood.

Her bed was covered with black sheets and a cream colored down comforter. There were three pictures of orchids in black frames hanging on the wall above her bed between two wall lamps.

Behind the freestanding wall the headboard of the bed was up against was the adjoining bathroom. Light streamed into the room through the large window that overlooked the lake.

Grace jumped onto her bed sending the black and cream colored pillows tumbling to the floor. She grabbed her phone charger from the end table drawer and plugged it into the wall before attaching her phone to it. After the battery icon lit up on the screen she turned it on. She had no new messages.

Grace sighed. She'd been hoping that Sam had called or texted letting her know how things ended up in Burkitsville.

She opened her text message box to start a new one when she saw an unfamiliar message in her inbox. She opened it.

"_Anytime, honey. We'll always have Burkitsville."_ It was from Sam. Her brow furrowed and she immediately went to the sent box.

'Who says I'm alone? I always have you sweetheart.' She hadn't sent that text. Then who had? Grace felt her face pale. Tess.

She immediately read over the entire text conversation. Sam had first texted Tess, but how did he know Tess had her phone? Suddenly it all made sense.

Tess had left to meet up with Sam in Burkitsville…she lied? Why? She was obviously hiding something…

"Oh…my…God!" Grace said to herself and shot up. They must have slept together. Why else would she have lied about it? Grace stormed from her room and yelled for Tess.

"What!" Tess called. Kitchen. Grace slammed the kitchen door open and saw her sister sitting at the island eating a bowl of cereal. "What's with you? You look upset?" She quickly changed tactics.

"I was reading about that tree you torched…" Tess looked confused for a moment, but then her eyes lit up.

"Oh yeah…the tree…what about it?" she asked.

"Well it turns out that burning the tree won't work. See its grows by planting a relic and you have to dig the relic up, smash it, cover it in holy water, then burn it. We should go back and take care of that. It'll grow back in three days if we don't." Tess paled.

"Um…no need! Um…didn't I tell you that I already dug the relic thing up and uh…did all that stuff?" Grace crossed her arms over her chest.

"Really?" Tess only nodded. "That's interesting considering I just made all of that up!" Tess, if possible, paled more. "You slept with him didn't you?"

"What the hell are you talking about? Slept with who?" Grace slammed her phone on the counter.

"Sam!" she yelled. "I read your little phone conversation. Very classy doing it from _my_ phone, Tess. Really, if you wanted me to stay away from him you should have said so. But no you have to go and sleep with him to prove a point!" Tess felt her temper rising.

"Grace just shut up; you don't know what the hell you're talking about. Sam and I didn't sleep together we were just…"

"No _you_ shut up! Why do you have to be such a bitch all the time? God it's not like I don't already feel inferior to you, but now you have to rub it in my face!"

"You are so completely out of your mind," Tess snapped back. "Get it through your thick skull, Sam and I didn't sleep together. The nicknames were a joke and we texted using your phone because he doesn't have my number! Duh!"

"Oh and I'm just supposed to believe that?" Grace asked in a shrill voice. "Honesty isn't exactly your strong suit these days. You lied about where you went why wouldn't you lie about this?"

"Because," Tess retorted, "if I wanted to make you feel _inferior_ like you claim, I would have come in here bragging about the fact I nailed the guy you're drooling over. Besides, the only reason why I went back to Indiana was because _Dean_, not _Sam_, needed my help and I owed him one after the asylum."

"Then why didn't you just tell me that?" Grace figured her sister was telling the truth; her statements made sense, but at this point it wasn't about who was right, it was about who could scream the loudest.

"Why? Why?" Tess stood up so quickly she knocked her stool over. "Because it's none of your damn business, that's why. You're the one who wants to quit hunting. You're going to have to get used to not knowing where I am every second of every day, because in a few days I'm leaving and you're staying here!" Tess stormed out of the room and headed for the staircase.

"Oh yeah, that's right, run back to your new boyfriend!" Grace screamed as she followed Tess.

"You are so fucking mental!" Tess shouted without turning around. "We didn't sleep together though I wish I had now just to piss you off!" they were at the staircase now.

"What am I saying of course you two didn't sleep together? I forgot about your little 'celibacy' pact ever since your last boyfriend dumped your sorry ass." Tess froze on the top step. Grace stopped at the bottom of the staircase and gripped the railing; she was dizzy with anger and she could feel the heat radiating off her face.

"What did you say?" Tess asked in a suddenly quiet voice. Grace snorted and rolled her eyes.

"You heard me!" Tess turned slowly and Grace gasped inwardly. Tess' eyes were puffy, bloodshot, and wet. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Grace felt guilty but quickly remember that she was supposed to be angry with Tess.

"I hate you," Tess whispered. Her lip was quivering with restrained anger and sobs. Grace suddenly realized what she'd done and stood on the next step up. "I hate you!" Tess screamed and ran down the hall.

"Tess!" Grace called and ran after her sister, but she was too late. Tess had already locked herself in her room. "Tess, I didn't mean it I'm sorry." Tess was leaning against the door that her sister was pounding on. "Please, I'm sorry, I don't know why I said it; I'm sorry." Tess walked across the room and turned on the stereo sitting next to the chair. Music drowned out the sound of her sister's apologies. Tess collapsed on her bed and let herself cry in the privacy of her room.

Grace kicked the door and slumped to the floor. She didn't know where all this anger was coming from, but it seemed to always be directed at her sister these days. Though the music was loud, she could still hear Tess crying from inside her room.

X

Grace was staring at the ceiling as she lay on the couch in the living room. Her cell phone was sitting next to her and she glanced at it. She'd texted Sam over two hours ago asking how things went in Burkitsville. She wanted confirmation that nothing had happened.

It wasn't so much that she was head over heals for Sam, but for some reason she hated the idea of Tess being with him. She'd seen him first, didn't that matter anymore?

Still, there was no justifying what she'd said to Tess. There were certain things you didn't mention, and Grace had blown all of them out of the water.

Gabriel Simmons. Tess' ex and the closest thing to a demon without actually being one.

They'd met him while working a job in Rhode Island three years previously. The two had become quickly infatuated. Gabe was the typical bad boy, the type Tess usually went for.

They dated off and on for almost five months. Gabe didn't understand why Tess was always on the road and he quickly delivered an ultimatum: either she had to stick around for more than a weekend, or he was gone.

Tess had quickly gone back to try and patch things up. It was the only time Grace had ever seen Tess ready to quit hunting. Then everything had gone wrong.

Tess came back to the motel one night bruised and bloody. It seemed that when she'd gone to his apartment she'd found Gabe with another woman amidst a party. Grace hadn't been able to get the whole story out of her, but the gist of it was that Tess had dropped Gabe on the spot and on her way out of the apartment, two of Gabe's friends had grabbed her and hauled her into the bedroom. Then Gabe came in.

Grace didn't know how far things had gone after that. Tess had never told her and when pressed about it, Tess would only become more reserved. However, the police reports on all three men spoke the words that maybe were too painful for Tess to say herself. Grace at first wondered if the reports were true, but there was also the possibility that in her anger Tess had stated more so as to maximize the sentence on the men. Both were a possibility, but only one was likely.

Tess hadn't dated since, not that Grace could blame her; especially with the childhood that both of the women had endured. Abuse was a tender subject.

Then there was the incident in Portland only a few months ago. This time it had been Grace's boyfriend that had lost it. Yet…it wasn't Grace that had been beaten, but again it had been Tess.

Grace wiped a tear from under her eye. Her sister was always protecting her yet she never let anyone return the favor. Tess was stronger than anyone Grace had ever met. She'd endured more pain than most people could ever imagine, and yet here she was still standing strong, fighting the good fight.

_No…I'm the weak one. I'm the one who loses it at the slightest problem and all I'm doing is hurting Tess more. She deserves so much more than a sister like me…_Grace was shaking with sobs now.

There was a creaking on the stairs and Grace shot upright with a gasp. Tess was standing at the bottom of the staircase in her pajamas. Grace quickly wiped her tears from her face.

"Hi," she said softly. Tess' expression was blank. She looked as though she were debating something. Tess sighed and walked over to the couch. She sat down and pulled Grace into a tight hug. Grace felt a mantle of guilt fall on her. She'd just deduced that she was the cause of most of Tess' grief and yet Tess was the one comforting her. The layer of guilt only made Grace begin to sob.

"Shhh, don't cry," Tess whispered and stroked Grace's hair. "I'm not mad anymore. I'm sorry." Grace pulled away quickly.

"No," she said quickly. "No, no, don't say you're sorry. Don't be sorry. I'm sorry. I was so wrong Tess, I was so completely wrong. I don't know why I said the things I did. I'm so sorry." Grace fell back into Tess' embrace as she was overcome with tears.

"Let's both be sorry, and forget all of this." Grace nodded and Tess brushed the tears from under Grace's eyes with her thumbs.

"I don't deserve a sister like you," Grace whispered, her throat still tight with emotion. Tess chuckled.

"You're right, you don't." The way Tess said it didn't make it sound rude, but it sounded as though Tess believed Grace was too good for _her_. "But hey, its like Mason and Christine always said; love is never earned or deserved, it just is."

"I hate myself sometimes," Grace said dropping her eyes. "I hate that I always act like this, I don't understand why I do it."

"I don't either." Their conversation was interrupted as Grace's phone rang. "God, does that thing _ever_ stop ringing?" Leave it to Tess to lighten the mood.

"It's Sam," Grace said as she picked up the phone. The two sisters exchanged looks; both were wondering if the other would explode again. "Hey Sam," Grace said answering the call. "Whoa, wait hold on. Slow down, I can't understand you. What's wrong?" Tess sat up as Grace began pacing. "Sam…God I am so sorry." Grace looked at Tess who was still sitting on the couch and mouthed 'Dean'.

"Is he dead?" she asked suddenly and Grace shook her head. Relief poured over her.

"I'll put my Watchers on it right away, what else can we do?" Grace was silent for a moment. "Alright, we'll be there as soon as we can. Text me where you're staying." And Sam, I promise, everything is going to be ok…bye." Grace hung up.

"What was that all about?" Tess asked as she too stood. "Is Dean alright?" Grace pinched the bridge of her nose.

"There was an accident," she said. That was never a good way to start a sentence. "They were hunting down a creature that ate the skin of small children when it happened. Dean used a taser on the creature, but the current traveled through his body triggering a massive heart attack…they aren't giving him long to live."

"There has to be something we can do," Tess said as more of an outburst. Grace was slightly startled by her quick response to help.

"Sam is looking up options. I'm going to load the story on to the network and see what we come up with." Tess nodded. "Um, Sam asked that we meet up with him. He could use the moral support I think…"

"Of course," Tess said. "I'll go pack us a couple bags, you get on the network." Tess quickly made for the stairs, but Grace called after her.

"Tess?" she turned. "Are-are we ok?" Tess looked pensive for a moment. She wasn't going to pretend she wasn't still hurt or angry, but now wasn't the time to talk about it. Someone needed help.

"Yeah, we're fine." Grace smiled and Tess forced one. "Now hurry and upload the story, we're out of here in the next fifteen minutes."

Thirteen minutes later Tess came downstairs dressed in dark denim jeans, a green shirt and black jacket that matched her black boots.

Grace had pulled a ribbed t-shirt on over a black tank top that matched her grey jeans and black tennis shoes. However, Grace had pulled her hair into a ponytail while Tess' spilled around her shoulders.

"Ready?" Tess asked as she set two duffle bags on the couch. Grace closed her laptop and slipped it into its case.

"Yeah, everything is uploaded. Now we wait." The two sighed at the same time before grabbing their own bag and walking out the door. "Think it will be another six months before we're back here?" Grace asked when they were pulling out of the driveway.

"Maybe," Tess answered vaguely. She glanced over at her sister, "but I wouldn't bet on it." Grace smiled and pulled her cell phone out.

'On our way Sam, hang in there…'


	11. Soap Opera

**A/N Bahaha, I like this chapter. **

"Sam!" Sam had his face buried in his hands as he sat in the hospital waiting room, but he looked up when he heard his name called. To his right, Grace and Tess were walking quickly toward him. He stood and Grace hugged him tightly. "We got here as soon as we could. How is he?"

"Not good, the doctors want to keep him here until he-until he um…" Tears were rimming Sam's eyes and both women felt their hearts beating painfully for the young man.

"We're not going to let him die Sam," Grace said. "There's always a way to fix these things especially in our line of work." Sam nodded his head though he wasn't sure if he really believed her. "Let's get to work, any leads so far?"

"My dad has a few contacts listed in his journal that I still need to call. Anything from the Watchers yet?"

"I haven't been able to check my email," Grace replied. "Get me somewhere with internet access and I can find out."

"Alright, how about we head back to the hotel I'm staying at?" Sam suggested though as soon as he said it, he looked back at the door to the room he was sitting outside of.

"I'll stay," Tess quickly volunteered and the two looked at her strangely. "Look, we need to know where our strengths are and mine certainly isn't in research. That's Grace's job."

"Alright," Sam relented. "But you call me if anything…anything changes ok?" Tess nodded and gave Sam a quick hug before he and Grace headed back down the hall. Tess moved to the door and stood in the open doorway. Her breath stopped in her throat.

Dean was lying in the hospital bed flipping through channels casually, but he looked horrible; deathly pale, dark circles around his eyes. He looked like he was dead already. There was a tube sticking out of his hand where an IV was keeping his body hydrated. Seeing Dean, someone she'd always seen as strong, was now lying helplessly in bed dying. She hated hospitals.

"I have a bone to pick with you," Tess said after recovering her voice. Dean turned his head to face her. She watched as his face lit up with shock, then confusion, then…joy? "I distinctly remember saving your ass a few days ago and now here you are dying of a heart attack. Pretty inconsiderate if you ask me." Dean grinned. Tess was casually leaning against the door frame, her eyes fixed on his. She really was pretty.

"Hey Tess," he said turning his grin into a smile. "Miss me already?" Tess pushed herself from the doorframe and farther into the room as she approached his bed.

"Not really," she said shrugging her shoulders. "I just figured if you were going to die I'd at least see if you'd leave me anything."

"Oh yeah, there's the uh yacht," Dean said with a straight face, "and don't forget the good silverware…"

"What about the winter lodge in Aspen?"

"Well see now you're just getting greedy…" Tess smiled and dropped her eyes from his. She was standing next to his bed now and he could smell her perfume. Dean cleared his throat as he sat up. "So, Sammy call you?" he asked breaking the awkward silence

"Yeah, late last night," Tess answered and returned her eyes to his. "Sam and Grace are working on finding a cure for you."

"Sammy never gives up, does he?"

"Wouldn't expect him to…"

"What about you?" Dean asked "What are you doing here?" Tess looked as though she were seriously considering the question, but in the end just ended up grinning.

"Someone has to keep you company."

"And you volunteered?"

"I wouldn't call it volunteering so much as drawing the short straw."

"Funny."

"I try." The room was silent again. "You're going to get better Dean," she said suddenly. "Grace and Sam, they'll find something."

"And if they don't?" he asked.

"They will," Tess reassured.

"I'm not so sure, I mean we all die eventually. I may as well get it over with now."

"That's not funny, Dean," Tess said in shock at his nonchalance.

"I wasn't trying to be funny, but hey, if it made you laugh…"

"Will you cut the bull shit I know you don't want to die, so stop making jokes about it?" Tess felt instantly guilty for yelling at him. He was in the hospital for Christ's sake and she was yelling at him. "Sorry…I shouldn't have snapped at you…"

"Hey!" Dean said his voice sounding normal again instead of tired. "I'm not dead yet. Don't you go soft on me, Ace." Tess chuckled.

"I'd have to like you first, Rookie, and we both know that's not going to happen. Now shut up and get some sleep." They exchanged soft smiles and Tess sat in the chair next to his bed under the window.

"Oh," a nurse said from the doorway. "Visiting hours are over, our patient needs his sleep." Dean looked over at Tess to see if she was leaving. Secretly, he wished she wouldn't.

"Yeah? That's nice, shut the door on your way out." The nurse was clearly taken aback by her response.

"No, miss, I meant that _you_ need to leave. It's hospital policy that all visitors leave by…"

"And it's the patient's right to have a family member present at all times while in intensive care unless a doctor specifies that the illness is contagious and the patient must be quarantined." The nurse, again, looked shocked. So did Dean.

"But you're not kin…" the nurse defended.

"I'm his fiancé and under hospital guidelines, an engagement is a legally binding agreement that allows the benefit of medical consent as well as burial preparations." A small silence fell over the room. "Good night." The nurse shook her head, clearly speechless, and shut the door. "What?" Tess asked when Dean looked at her.

"Where did all of that come from?" he asked and Tess smiled. "Did you make all of that up?"

"More or less." Dean was sufficiently impressed. Even he had believed her. "Now go to sleep," Tess ordered. He grinned and flicked the light off via the remote.

"Hey Ace?" Dean asked and Tess looked over at him. "Will you tuck me in?"

"Shut up."

X

"No one's found anything yet," Grace said sadly as she sat in front of her laptop. Sam was standing behind her with his hand resting on the back of her chair.

"Well tell them to look harder!" Sam practically yelled. Grace turned in her chair to look up at him.

"It's not that easy Sam; it's only been a few hours and your brother's condition isn't exactly paranormal. Give them some time."

"We don't have time!" he yelled and began pacing. "Dean could die any minute!" Grace stood and gave Sam a sympathetic look.

"Sam, I know you're upset but you need to be rational right now. You can't go off the deep end. Dean needs you to keep a level head." Sam looked guilty and ran a hand through his hair. "Why don't you try a few more numbers from your dad's journal?"

"I've tried them all…" then Sam's phone rang. He practically lunged for it. "Hello?" he asked. "Yeah, Joshua, this is Sam, John's boy…" Grace sat back down and listened. "Really? You sure about this guy…Nebraska, yeah ok." Sam grabbed a pen and scribbled a name onto a piece of paper and handed it to Grace. _Roy LeGrange_. Grace quickly typed the name into the search column and pulled up a webpage on him. "Thanks Josh, this means a lot…bye." Sam clicked the phone shut. "What do you have?"

"Roy LeGrange, Faith healer?" Grace asked as she looked up at Sam and he shrugged. "He's a minister in Nebraska who preaches out of tents and supposedly heals the sick and dying…Sam I don't know about this. Religious zealots tend to get…complicated."

"But if he can heal Dean that's all that matters!" Sam was bordering irrational, but Grace couldn't blame him. If it was Tess dying she'd be just as crazy.

"Let me look into this a little more. If we don't find anything suspicious we'll contact LeGrange and see what he can do." Sam nodded and Grace delved deeper into her research. Sam sat next to her and stared over her shoulder.

X

Dean opened his eyes as he heard someone entering the hospital room. To his right a nurse was entering carrying a tray of "food".

"Ah, so you are awake," the elderly woman said with a smile. "I thought you'd like some lunch." Dean forced a smile as she set the tray down on the retracting table. "Eat up!" she encouraged before leaving the room. Dean used the plastic spoon to push a grey blob from one side of the tray to the other.

"God what's that smell?" Dean looked up and saw Tess entering the room with her satchel bag hanging off one shoulder and a large paper bag in the other hand. "That's disgusting…" she said glancing at the tray of food. She closed the door behind her and sat in her usual chair to her left.

"Where were you?" Dean asked in a more clipping tone than he had meant it to sound. Tess only smiled.

"Well since all they serve here is goop poured on top of slop; me and all my brilliance decided to hit up a diner down the street."

"Oh there is a God!" Dean said as he pushed the table away and began watching as Tess pulled mass amounts of wrapped food from the paper bag.

"Not only is there a God, Dean, but he invented double bacon cheeseburgers with extra onions!" Tess began unwrapping the large burger and Dean reached for it. "Hey! What are you doing? You can't eat this you're a patient…"

"What?" Dean asked and he felt his heart breaking.

"You expect me to give you cholesterol on a bun while you're in the hospital for a massive heart attack? Hah! Those meds are making you nuts!" Tess took a large bite of the hamburger and leaned back in her chair.

"You mean to tell me you brought all that food…for yourself?" he asked as he surveyed the meal that was easily fit for three. Tess only gave him 'duh' look. "You're cruel…"

"And you look like hell, now eat your slop and be happy." Dean only glared at her. "There are starving children in Africa who would kill for that meal…"

"Don't be so sure."

X

"Oh my God!" Tess shouted as she threw a wadded up food wrapper at the television screen. "What the hell was that?"

"I told you Cecily was going to sleep with Ricardo," Dean said with his usual arrogant tone. "That makes the score, five to zero. Your turn." Tess glared at him before returning her eyes to the small screen.

"Ok," Tess said in all seriousness. "I bet you a bag of potato chips that Frederick, Cecily's fiancé is going to walk in." Dean shook his head.

"Amateur," Dean sighed. "Morgan, Ricardo's twin sister is going to walk in." Tess gave him a skeptical look.

"Morgan? She's supposed to be in England with Hank, her long lost husband…"

"Exactly, cardinal rule of soap operas. The least likely person to enter the room is _always_ the person to enter the room." A door began opening on the screen and before they could see who it was, the screen went black before an advertisement went up.

"Damn," Tess muttered. "Alright, back to the card game. It's my turn to deal." Dean and Tess turned to the small retracting table as Tess began passing the cards.

"So what exactly happened between you and Sammy? You know, in Indiana?" Tess didn't bother to hide her sudden outburst of laughter.

"What makes you think _anything_ happened between Sam and me?" she asked in return. Dean looked up at Tess, but her eyes were on her cards.

"Well, there was the whole nicknames thing…which was nauseating by the way, then your whole _exchange_ at the gas station."

"Mmhmm," Tess mumbled and placed her bet (which was Oreos, not money)

"Is that all I get?"

"What more do you want?"

"I don't know, how about an actual answer."

"What kind of answer would you like? Seeing as you're being so damn demanding I'd hate to give you an answer you wouldn't like."

"Don't be a bitch."

"But I'm so good at it," Tess said in a baby voice and Dean glared at her. "What's that look for? What happened between Sam and I is none of your business." Tess was having _way_ too much fun messing with Dean.

"Yeah, but he's my brother, that makes it my business. I mean, if I slept with Grace you'd want to know right?"

"Not really."

"You mean you wouldn't care?" It was a tempting thought. Hell, Grace was hardly unattractive.

"No I'd care…I'd be thrilled, Grace needs a good lay."

"Really?"

"Being sarcastic, Dean."

"Oh." Dean tried to hide his crestfallenness, but failed and earned himself a death glare from Tess. "Come on, just tell me."

"Why don't you ask Sam? If it's so important for you to know what your brother is doing, or should I say _who_ your brother is doing, then ask him."

"He wouldn't tell me either…" Dean was clearly pouting and Tess looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "He wouldn't!"

"I think it's more likely that he _did_ tell you, but you didn't like the answer so now you're bugging me about it to try and verify his story." Dean was clearly taken off guard. He wasn't used to being read so easily and Tess was doing it flawlessly. It annoyed him. "Tell you what, if Morgan walks in the room, I'll tell you. If it's Frederick, then you have to shut up about this forever."

"Deal." As if on cue, the show came back on. Dean turned the volume up as the show recapped and the camera turned toward the door. It opened and on the other side stood a tall man with blonde hair and green eyes.

"Yes!" Tess exclaimed. "I believe that's a point for me and a new conversation topic for you!"

"Oh come on! You cheated!" Dean accused, but the smarmy green on Tess' face didn't falter. "You have to tell me…you _have_ to."

"No, I don't. I won fare and square. Now are you going to play cards or what?" Tess asked haughtily.

"Two out of three!"

"No!"

"Come on, Tess, you're killing me here."

"No, I'm pretty sure it's the heart attack that's killing you."

"What happened to death jokes not being funny?" Dean asked in aggravation. Not at the joke, but because she wasn't letting him have his way.

"They're only _not_ funny when _you_ say them. I think they're hilarious when _I_ say them."

"You're such a brat!"

"And you're a sore loser; that makes us even. Now make a bet or fold." Dean snootily placed his cards face down and crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh come on, now who's being the brat?" Dean didn't answer. Tess sighed and set her cards down too. "Fine, if you must know…"

"I must!" Dean said sounding like a kid on Christmas morning. Tess sighed overdramatically.

"If you really, really, really want to know…" they were both subconsciously leaning forward. "Then hire a psychic!" Tess exclaimed and started laughing.

"Bitch."

"Asshole."


	12. Faith

**A/N Bahahaha making a video update for my family!**

Dean woke later that night as he heard Tess' phone ring. The woman who was sleeping in the chair next to his bed snapped awake, cursed, and groped for her phone.

"Hello?" she asked in a whisper. Clearly she was trying not to wake Dean up, so he kept his eyes shut as though he were. "Yeah, he's fine he's asleep…I'm sure…really, can this guy help?" Dean didn't want to admit it, but he felt a spark of hope. "A what?...you've got to be kidding me…no, you're right. Yeah. Let me wake him up." Tess sounded almost protective. "But he…no I know, but…God Sam, I get it! Ok, I'll wait until morning! Bye." Tess clicked her phone shut and slipped it into her pocket.

Dean felt her walk around to the side of the bed he was facing and nudge his shoulder. She clearly wasn't going to wait until morning to wake him up.

"Dean, wake up," she whispered. Dean kept his eyes shut. She nudged him again, but he didn't open his eyes. He heard her sigh and kneel so their faces were closer. "Come on, wake up!" she whispered more forcefully. "God, you sleep like the dead." Dean almost laughed at the irony of her joke. "Dean..." she said and placed a hand on his face. He had meant to keep playing, but the shock of having her hand on his face made his eyes pop open. He felt a shudder run through his spine as his eyes met hers. Clearly, she had the same reaction. "Hey, Sam called; they think they may have found someone who can help you…but I have to warn you this guy is a…"

"Why is your hand on my face?" he asked suddenly. Tess looked surprised for a moment and quickly withdrew her hand, but Dean caught it. The two of them starred at one another for a moment. Dean held her wrist firmly in one hand enjoying the feel of it. A thought ran through both of their minds. It was the first time the two of them had actually looked at one another without sarcasm, anger or a hint of teasing.

The door to the room opened and a nurse entered. Tess immediately stood, her wrist falling from Dean's hold.

"Did I wake him?" the nurse asked Tess who only shook her head. "The doctor wants to increase the dosage of your medication," she said to Dean now. "He wants to start immediately."

"No need," Dean said sitting up and tossing his blanket to the side. "I'm checking myself out of the hospital."

"What!" the nurse and Tess asked at the same time. The two women looked at one another before looking back at Dean who was already fishing his clothes out of the top drawer.

"What the hell are you doing?" Tess snapped. Realization hit her as Dean pulled his jeans on under his gown. Dean didn't bother to make eye contact.

"I said I'm checking myself out of the hospital or were you deaf two seconds ago," he said sarcastically.

"Like hell you are!" Tess said and took a step toward him. "Lay back down!" she ordered. Dean grinned, but Tess ignored him. "Are you insane, Dean incase you forgot you just had a major heart attack."

"Yeah and if I don't get out of here I'm going to die of boredom and _not_ the heart attack," he retorted while pulling his gown off over his head. "Besides, if Sammy found someone who can help I'll be damned if I'm going to wait around here." He made to stand up but Tess placed a hand on his bare chest and pushed him back onto the bed.

"You're crazy you know that? You're not going anywhere. You're staying in that bed if I have to tie you to it!" Dean's face lit up at her last comment.

"Really? Is that a promise?"

"That's not what I meant…"

"You sure about that?"

"Put your gown back on!" Tess said ignoring his insinuation and grabbing the discarded article of clothing from the floor and trying to hand it to him.

"No!" Dean said stubbornly. "I just took it off; I'm not putting it back on." Now he was acting like a child. It infuriated Tess which is exactly why he did it.

"Fine, but you're going to be incredibly uncomfortable trying to sleep in jeans," Tess said and tossed the gown on the side of the bed.

"I told you, I can't sleep."

"That's what this little nifty button is for," Tess said and pressed the button on the IV monitor that mixed a sleep-aide into the fluids in the tube. "Dean!" Tess shrieked as he pulled the needle from his hand. He slid his feet to the floor and stood directly in front of Tess.

"I'm checking out of the hospital," he said sternly looking down into her eyes. Tess was glaring at him but did nothing to change the little amount of room between them. "Call it a last request." Tess sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Fine, but if you die I'm not feeling guilty." Tess stepped away from him and crossed her arms. The nurse who had been gaping from the doorway looked at Tess who practically demanded she leave with the look in her eye. The nurse complied. Tess swallowed a lump in her throat when she turned back around. Dean was grabbing his shirt out of the drawer next to the bed while he stood in only his jeans and socks. She hadn't been able to get a good look at him while arguing, but she did now. A well defined chest and abdomen, broad shoulders, and a muscular back were covered in bronzed skin.

Tess felt heat rush to her face as she realized what she was doing. She quickly adverted her eyes. Little did she know Dean had witness her eye roaming. Tess jerked her head back in his direction as she heard him gasp. Dean had his back facing her, his shirt hanging around his neck and both hands on the bed. He looked as though he were about to collapse.

"Dean!" Tess caught him just as his knees buckled. "God I told you this was stupid," she said with her arms wrapped around his waist. He was leaning heavily on her as she tried to sit him on the hospital bed. That was when she felt his shoulders trembling. His face was buried in her neck, his breath on her neck, but as he sat on the bed she saw his face. He was laughing!

"Oh that was classic," he said through large gulps of air. Tess felt shock and disbelief slap her in the face.

"You are the biggest ass hole I have _ever_ met," she yelled. "You scared the shit out of me! I can't believe you just did that."

"Aw, come on, it was a little funny." Tess wasn't laughing however, she was glaring daggers. So he made it worse and wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her against him. "Would it help if I said I was sorry?"

"No, but you can get your hands off me," she snapped and pushed him away. "You might be dying, but it still isn't going to happen."

"Come on Ace, I was just teasing. I'm not…"

"I know, you're not dead _yet_, but you will be if you ever pull something like that again!" Dean felt a small victory as her face flushed. "Just finish getting dressed." Dean chuckled and pulled his shirt on before grabbing his jacket, shoes and socks. He stood on trembling legs and began taking slow steps forward.

"Here," Tess sighed and pulled one of his arms over her shoulders. Dean looked down at her, but she wasn't making eye contact. Tess helped him out of the room and to the front deck where the attendant was giving them a strange look.

"What's going on here?" she asked in a snotty tone. The woman was middle aged and had eighty pounds of uselessness hanging off her body not including the ten pounds sitting between her shoulders.

"I'm checking him out," Tess replied as though she were talking to the dumbest person alive.

"W-what, he can't check out, he can't even stand up on his own!" the receptionist protested. Tess was about to argue, but Dean cut her off.

"I'm self admitted, I can check out whenever I want, so show me the dotted line before I pass out." The receptionist looked miffed, but didn't argue as she handed him a clip board. Dean signed quickly and the two walked very slowly from the hospital.

X

Grace and Sam had found all the information they could on Roy LeGrange and both had finally decided it was their only option for Dean. Grace was getting ready to dial the hospital, but stopped when she heard Sam leaving someone a voicemail.

"Hey, Dad. It's Sam. Uh….you probably won't even get this, but, uh….It's Dean. He's sick, and uh….the doctors say there's nothing they can do. Um….but, uh, they don't know the things we know, right? So, don't worry, cause, uh….I'm gonna do whatever it takes to get him better. Alright….just wanted you to know." Grace felt tears welling up in her eyes as she walked over to Sam. He looked up at her as he was sitting on the end of the bed.

"It's going to be ok Sam," she said soothingly.

"How do you know?" he asked. Grace didn't have an answer. She didn't know for a fact, but she was hoping.

"Because-because we're not going to give up, that's why." Sam smiled softly and Grace placed a hand on his shoulder. "This is going to be nothing but a memory soon."

"I hope so…" there was a loud pounding on the door that sounded like someone was kicking it instead of knocking. Sam walked to the door and threw it open. Tess and Dean were on the other side.

Tess was supporting Dean with both arms. One was wrapped around his waist and one hand was pressed against his chest. Dean had an arm around her shoulders while the other was resting on the head of a can the hospital had provided.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sam asked in shock however he stepped aside to let the two in.

"I checked myself out," Dean replied casually. Sam looked at Tess incredulously and she snorted.

"You try arguing with him," Tess said harshly and she helped Dean sit on the bed. Sam, however, wasn't about to drop the subject.

"You know, this whole I-laugh-in-the-face-of-death thing? It's crap. I can see right through it."

"Yeah, whatever, dude," Dean said passively. "Have you even slept? You look worse than me. What have you two been up to?" Grace blushed but they both ignored the comment.

"We've been scouring the Internet and calling every contact in Dad's journal for a way to help you. One of Dad's friends, Joshua, he called me back. Told me about a guy in Nebraska. A specialist." He exchanged a look with Grace who remained silent.  
"You're not gonna let me die in peace, are you?" Dean said and it earned him a glare from Tess.

"I'm not gonna let you die, period. We're going." Dean looked at Tess who had moved to the other side of the room. She raised her eyebrows as though challenging him to argue. He didn't.

X

Grace pulled their truck to a stop just behind the impala outside a large white tent. Tess still couldn't believe Sam had brought them to a faith healer, but hey, whatever worked right?

"I got ya," Sam said as he ran around to Dean's side of the car. Dean, however, pushed Sam away.

"I got it," Dean protested. Grace and Tess were already at their side when Dean read the sign near the entrance to the tent. "Man, you are a lying bastard. Thought you said we were going to see a doctor."

"I believe I said a specialist," Sam argued. "Look, Dean, this guy's supposed to be the real deal…"

"He's already healed six people over the last year," Grace added but that only made to annoy Dean more.

"I can't believe you brought me here to see some guy who heals people out of a tent…" Dean continued as though neither Sam nor Grace had made valid points.

"Reverend LeGrange is a great man," and elderly woman said as the group of four approached the entrance.

"Yeah, that's nice," Dean said sarcastically. The group stopped to watch a man arguing with a police officer for a moment.

"I have a right to protest. This man is a fraud. And he's bilking all these people out of their hard-earned money!" the man yelled.

"Sir, this is a place of worship. Let's go. Move it," the sheriff said as he pushed the man's shoulder.

"I take it he's not part of the flock…" Dean muttered.

"Yeah, so much for separation of church and state," Tess added. Dean and Tess exchanged a look. They were both clearly the skeptics here.

"When people see something they can't explain, there's controversy," Sam said sounding like a theology professor.

"But come on, Sam, a faith healer?" Dean asked as he stopped walking. He was looking worse by the minute, Tess thought.

"Maybe it's time to have a little faith, Dean," Sam encouraged and Dean rolled his eyes.

"You know what I've got faith in?" Dean asked. "Reality. Knowing what's really going on."

"How can you be a skeptic? With the things we see everyday?" Grace and Tess were watching the encounter not sure if they should intervene or not.

"Exactly. We see them, we know they're real."

"But if you know evil's out there, how can you not believe good's out there, too?" Tess felt a woman stand next to her. She was clearly listening the exchange.

"Because I've seen what evil does to good people," Dean snapped with bitterness evident in his voice.

"Maybe God works in mysterious ways," the woman said finally revealing her face. It didn't take Dean long to notice how beautiful she was.

"Maybe he does," Dean said flashing her a grin. Tess rolled her eyes. "I think you just turned me around on the subject."

"Yeah, I'm sure," the woman said returning the smile. Grace looked at Tess as she felt her stiffen. Her brow furrowed, but Tess was ignoring her.

"I'm Dean. This is Sam, Grace, and Tess," Dean introduced. While the others shook her hand, Tess only offered her a short nod.

"I'm Layla. So, if you're not a believer, then why are you here?" the blonde woman asked.

"Well, apparently my brother here believes enough for the both of us," Dean teased but the woman didn't look amused. An older woman approached and wrapped her arms around Layla's shoulders.

"Come on, Layla. It's about to start." Layla smiled at the four before allowing herself to be pulled inside the tent.

"Well, I bet you she can work in some mysterious ways," Dean said watching her as she entered the tent.

"While we're at it, maybe LaGrange could cure Dean of being a jackass," Tess muttered to Grace, but everyone heard.

"He's not God, Tess," Dean retorted. They entered the tent and Tess immediately surveyed their surroundings. She pointed to a security camera hanging in the corner of the tent. "Yeah, peace, love, and trust all over," he said sarcastically.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Tess said turning her back on the camera. "Something isn't right here, can't you feel it?"

"Don't tell me you're going all psychic on me, too," Dean said. _Too?_ Sam elbowed Dean in the ribs.

"Come on, we're sitting up front," Sam ordered.

"What? Why?" Dean asked as Sam pulled him away from the back row. "Oh, come on, Sam." Dean sighed as Sam made him sit on the aisle. Grace sat to Sam's right and turned in her seat when she didn't see Tess. Her sister was standing in the back of the tent with her arms folded over her chest.

"Each morning, my wife, Sue Ann, reads me the news. Never seems good, does it?" a blind mind said from the stage. _This must be Roy_. Tess thought. "Seems like there's always someone committing some immoral, unspeakable act. But, I say to you, God is watching. God rewards the good, and He punishes the corrupt." Tess snorted but the crowd gave the opposite response. For a moment, Ray seemed as though he were looking in Tess' direction. But Tess was sure she was imagining it…maybe. "Who does the healing here, friends? The Lord who guides me in choosing who to heal by helping me see into people's hearts… You think so, young man?" Tess saw Ray facing Sam, Grace and Dean but she hadn't heard what they said.

"Sorry," Dean said clearing his throat. Clearly he had said something sarcastic and Roy had overheard.

"No, no. Don't be. Just watch what you say around a blind man, we've got real sharp ears." Even Tess had to laugh at this one. It was about time someone put Dean in his place. "What's your name, son?"

"Uh…Dean," he replied. Sam was practically bouncing in is seat. "Dean. I want…I want you to come up here with me." A woman with aged beauty who had been sitting in a fold out chair behind Roy stood and opened her arms in a very maternal gesture.

"No, that's ok," Dean said stubbornly. The crowd only seemed to cheer louder and Roy chuckled.

"You've come here to be healed, haven't you?" Roy asked.

"Well, yeah, but…" the crowd applauded louder. "No, maybe you should just pick someone else." Tess couldn't tell if this was Dean's pride or his hero persona speaking.

"Oh, no, I didn't pick you, Dean, the Lord did," Roy said. Dean and Sam argued for a moment before Sam practically shoved Dean out of his chair. The crowd roared. Dean stood on the stage looking nervous. He turned and made eye contact with Tess. For a moment he wanted to grin, but when he saw the serious expression on his face, he didn't. The two held eyes. It was almost as intense as when they were in the hospital. "Son?" Roy asked and forced him to break eye contact with Tess. "You ready?"

"Look, no disrespect, but I'm not exactly a believer," Dean admitted quietly. Roy only chuckled.

"You will be, son. You will be. Pray with me, friends." Everyone extended their hands toward the stage. Roy lifted his hands and placed one on Dean's shoulder. Roy moved his hand to Dean's forehead. "Alright, now. Alright, now." Tess felt her heart slamming against her chest, but she didn't know why. Her palms became sweaty and a cold chill swept over her body. Something was wrong. Dean's body began to go limp where he stood. His eyes closed and he fell to his knees. "Alright, now…" Tess was already moving toward the stage by the time Dean collapsed. One of the officers in the crowd grabbed Tess and held her back.

"Let the Reverend finish his work," the officer said as he pulled Tess to the right of the stage.

"Dean!" Sam yelled at the same time Grace called for Tess. Sam ran to the stage to see his brother while Grace went to aide her sister.

Dean felt his eyes cracking open. He first saw Roy standing over him, then an old man to his right. The man turned his hollow black eyes to Dean, and then the man overlooked him. Dean followed the old man's eyes to where a struggle was occurring between Tess, Grace and an officer. Though Tess and Grace looked different. There was a clash between red and white lights, but before Dean could get a good look he was covering his ears. The old man was screaming but it was high pitched and unearthly. Then everything was gone.

"Dean, look at me say something!" Sam was demanding. The experience had lasted only a fraction of a second as Tess was already free from the officer and kneeling next to him.

"Get off me, Sam," Dean said and pushed his brother away. Sam ignored his brother's protests and helped him to his feet.

"The Lord has surely worked a miracle today," Roy said with a bright smile. Sam pulled one of Dean's arms over his shoulder while Tess was taking the other.

"Yeah, we'll see about that," Tess snapped and they helped Dean from the tent.


	13. Faith pt 2

**A/N Picures are on my homepage. There is a link from my profile. Have fun and leave reviews please. Oh I'm so excited, we're finally getting into the good stuff! thank you for you faithful reviewers! This one is for you!**

"So, you really feel okay?" Sam asked Dean. The four of them were sitting in a hospital room. Dean had undergone several different tests by the doctor all in hopes of proving Dean was healed.

"I feel fine, Sam," Dean said shortly. It had been the millionth time at least that Sam had asked that question. Sam was about to ask it again when the nurse entered.

"Well, according to all your tests, there's nothing wrong with your heart. No sign there ever was." Sam and Dean looked at one another. "Not that a man your age should be having heart trouble, but, still it's strange it does happen."

"What do you mean, strange?" Dean asked. The way the nurse had said her last sentence left a large amount of room for suspicion.

"Well, just yesterday, a young guy like you, twenty-seven, athletic. Out of nowhere, heart attack," she answered. Dean looked worried.

"Thanks, Doc," he said and the nurse smiled before leaving the room. A small silence fell over the room. Dean and Tess made eye contact. They'd been doing that a lot lately.

"Maybe it's a coincidence," Sam chimed in. "People's hearts give out all the time, man." Dean stood and pulled his jacket on.

"No, they don't." He was right. This was too coincidental.

"Look, Dean, do we really have to look this one in the mouth? Why can't we just be thankful that the guy saved your life and move on?"

"Sam," Grace said in a warning tone. "If Roy is…if he's healing people by hurting other then we have to…"

"Because I can't shake this feeling, that's why," Dean interrupted her. His outburst startled everyone in the room.

"What feeling?" Dean had a look on his face that greatly resembled the look that Sam would get after one of his dreams.

"When I was healed, I just…I felt wrong. I felt cold. And for a second, I saw someone. This, uh, this old man. And I'm telling you, Sam, it was a spirit…" Dean still wasn't sure what to make of Tess, Grace, and the lights he'd seen around them. Part of him wondered if he'd even seen it. The old man was by far the most disturbing thing he'd seen.

But if there was something there, Dean, I think I would've seen it, too. I mean…" Sam and Dean glanced at Tess and Grace who were watching with confusion. "I mean, I would have seen it too."

"Not necessarily," Tess said and all eyes turned to her. "Legends all over the world say that when you're on the verge of death you can see into the spiritual realm. Dean would definitely have more of a connection to this than any of us."

"You're just ganna need a little faith on this one. Sam, I've been hunting long enough to trust a feeling like this," Dean added.

"Yeah, alright," Sam said with some reluctance. "So, what do you want do?" he asked Dean.

"I want you to go check out the heart attack guy. I'm going visit the reverend. You two in on this one?" he asked turning to Grace and Tess.

"Might as well, we're already here," Tess answered. This whole 'teaming up' thing might have been annoying at first, but Tess was beginning to see the perks. Hunts tended to move along faster when it was the four of them.

"Alright, Wonder Geeks, you take the dead guy. Ace and I will check our Roy's place," Dean said firmly. What shocked Grace and Sam more than Dean suggesting he and Tess go together, was that Tess didn't object. Tess grabbed her bag and followed Dean out of the hospital room leaving Sam and Grace starring at one another.

X

"What's with you?" Tess asked while she and Dean sat in the black impala. He'd been silent the whole car ride and now they were sitting starring at Roy LaGrange's house. Dean cleared his throat and opened the car door.

"Nothing," he lied and Tess followed him to the front door. Dean stopped in front of the door and starred at it. He felt Tess starring at him so he looked over at her. "What?" he snapped.

"Nothing," Tess said with a teasing undertone. She knocked for him. There was some shuffling from inside before the door opened. The same aging woman they had seen from the meeting was standing with a bright smile.

"Welcome, we've been expecting you," the woman said and stepped aside allowing them to enter. She led them into the living room and turned to them. "I'm Sue Anne, Roy's wife."

"I'm…"

"Dean, yes I know. Like I said we've been expecting you." This woman was seriously creepy.

"Yeah, anyway, this is Tess my-uh…friend." Sue Ann looked at Tess and shook her hand but her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Yes, I saw you at the meeting; in the back of the tent with the skeptical eyes. Seems you caused quite the stir with one of our officers…" Dean had forgotten to ask Tess about that.

"He shouldn't have grabbed me," Tess said nonchalantly. Sue Ann smiled, but it was clearly forced. Footsteps cut off their conversation.

"Who is it Sue Ann?" Roy asked from the doorway. Sue Ann's face lit up and she walked over to her husband.

"Its Dean and one of his friends," she said and helped her husband to sit. Sue Ann gestured for Dean and Tess to sit as well and they complied. Sue Anne left the room to prepare tea and the three of them sat in silence until she returned.

"How are you feeling, son?" Roy asked as Sue Ann handed him a cup. She extended the tray to Dean and Tess who politely took a cup, but neither had any intention of drinking.

"I feel great," Dean answered. "Just trying to, you know, make sense of what happened."

"A miracle is what happened," Sue Anne said beaming. "Well, miracles come so often around Roy."

"Right, miracles…" Tess muttered and Dean elbowed her in the side. "I mean miracles yeah. When exactly did these _miracles_ start?"

"Woke up one morning, stone blind," Roy started. "Doctors figured out I had cancer. Told me I had maybe a month. So we prayed for a miracle. Now, I was weak, but I told Sue Ann, 'You just keep right on praying.' I went into a coma. Doctors said I wouldn't wake up, but I did. And the cancer was gone." Roy paused long enough to remove his sunglasses. "If it wasn't for these eyes, no one would believe I'd ever had it."

"And you think that God gave you the ability to heal people?" Tess asked and Dean gave her a warning glare.

"God's blessed me in many ways," Roy answered with a smile. "Healing people is just one of them."

"And his flock just swelled overnight. And this is just the beginning," Sue Ann said with a smile. He smile seemed almost…prideful.

"Can I ask you one last question?" Dean inquired. His voice was uncommonly low and serious.

"Of course you can," Roy said gleefully.

"Why? Why me? Out of all the sick people, why save me?" Tess looked over at Dean, but he didn't return the eye contact.

"Well, like I said before, the Lord guides me. I looked into your heart, and you just stood out from all the rest," Roy replied.

"What did you see in my heart?"

"A young man with an important purpose," Roy said. "A job to do. And it isn't finished." Dean nodded, but didn't look convinced.

"Thank you for your time," Dean said and stood. Tess was about to protest, but Dean grabbed her by the hand and pulled her toward the front door.

"What are you doing?" Tess hissed in a whisper when they reached the small foyer. "We haven't learned anything yet!"

"Sure we have. Weren't you listening?" he asked in an equally soft voice. Sue Anne entered the foyer and opened the door for them.

"Thank you for stopping by," she said and Dean offered a polite smile. As soon as the door shut, Tess turned to continue her thought when Dean cut her off.

"Layla," he said with a furrowed brow. Tess turned and saw the blonde woman from earlier standing on the steps.

"Dean, hey," she said with a smile as she approached them. "Tess right?" Layla asked and Tess nodded with a forced smile. "How you feeling?" she asked Dean as she stopped next to them.

"I feel good," Dean answered. "Cured, I guess. What are you doing here?" Layla smiled and looked almost embarrassed.

"You know, my mom, she wanted to talk to the reverend." The door opened behind them and Sue Ann stepped out.

"Layla?" she asked as Layla's mother approached.

"Yes, I'm here again," Layla answered.

"Well, I'm sorry, but Roy is resting, and he won't be seeing anyone else right now," Sue Ann said and Layla's eyes fell.

"Sue Ann, please," Mrs. Rourke pleaded. "This is our sixth time; he's got to see us."

"Roy is well aware of Layla's situation. And he very much wants to help just as soon as the Lord allows. Have faith, Mrs. Rourke." Sue Ann disappeared back inside and Mrs. Rourke turned to Dean. Her eyes were dancing with anger and bitterness.

"Why are you still even here? You got what you wanted." she said cruelly.

"Mom. Stop." Layla said sternly.

"No, Layla, this is too much. We've been to every single service. If Roy would stop choosing these strangers over you. Strangers who don't even believe. I just can't pray any harder."

"Layla, what's wrong?" Dean asked with concern in his voice. Neither of the women answered at first.

"I have this thing…"

"It's a brain tumor. It's inoperable. In six months, the doctors say..." Layla placed a hand on her mother's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Dean said sincerely.

"It's ok," Layla said trying to ease the conversation.

"No. It isn't," Mrs. Rourke objected. "Why do you deserve to live more than my daughter?" she asked Dean, her voice was filled with tears. No one said anything as Layla and her mother left. Tess took in a deep breath. She suddenly knew why Dean wanted to visit Roy so badly. He wanted to know why he deserved life.

X

"I'm telling you, he seemed healthy. Swam every day, didn't smoke. So, a heart attack just kind of seemed, well, bizarre," the man said to Grace and Sam. They had stopped by the gym where the mysterious heart attack had occurred. One of the workers at the gym had been happy to answer their prying questions.

"And you said he was running, right before he collapsed?" Sam asked as they followed the man through the locker room.

"Yeah, yeah, he was freaking out," he said looking at Grace. "He said that something was, uh, was after him."

"Did he say what?" Grace asked and the man shook his head.

"Well, thin air is what. I mean, it wasn't anything," the man answered and Sam and Grace exchanged looks.

"Alright, thanks," Sam said with a sigh. The two began walking up the staircase to the main level when Sam noticed the clock on the wall. "Your, uh, your clock's busted."

"Oh, yeah, we, uh, can't get it workin'," the guy said with a small laugh. "Just froze at 4:17."

"Is that the same time Marshall died?" Sam asked.

"How'd you know?"

X

Dean could feel Tess' eyes on him. He hadn't planned on running into Layla and now he felt that Tess had easily connected the dots.

"Are you going to say something or stare at me the whole car ride?" he asked with aggravation. Tess sighed.

"You're too close to this, Rookie," she started. "You've let it become a personal matter."

"I have not," Dean objected loudly.

"Yeah, you have!" Tess insisted. "You're taking all of this and making it personal. This is a hunt Dean, you can't get attached."

"Who's attached?" Dean asked and looked over at her and Tess gave him a knowing glare. "You mean Layla? I'm _not_ attached to Layla…I'm just concerned is all."

"Oh yeah, and the fact that you can't stop drooling whenever she's around that's just a salivating condition?"

"You sound jealous, Ace…"

"Don't flatter yourself, Rookie," Tess snapped. "You're not exactly subtle with your intentions. I'm surprised you haven't tried to sleep with her yet."

"Who says I haven't?" Dean asked arrogantly then he realized how stupid he sounded.

"Like I said, you've made it personal." There was silence while Dean pulled into the motel parking lot. Tess made to leave, but Dean locked the door and she jerked her head around to look at him.

"How can this _not_ be personal?" he asked but didn't look her in the eye. "I was dying, Tess, I…I almost died and when he…when Roy healed me, it felt…wrong. I need to know why me, why he didn't pick someone else."

"Did you ever stop to think maybe there _isn't_ a deeper meaning? Maybe it was luck of the draw, you weren't exactly easy to overlook in the meeting. Besides, if Roy wants his _flock_ to grow, what better way to do it than to make the unbelievers, you know, believers."

"Yeah," Dean said with a sigh. "Maybe you're right." Dean was starring straight ahead with a vacant expression on his face. Looks like Tess had to play the compassionate role again. She hated it.

"Look, Dean," she said in what she hoped sounded like a sympathetic tone. "What you do, what _we_ do, you, me, Sam, and Grace…it's a good thing. Killing things that murder innocent people. There's not as many of us out there as there should be. If there is a God…I'm sure that he would want you to keep doing what you're doing."

"That was sweet," he said turning to look at her. His smart ass grin returned. "Did you practice that?"

"Drop dead," Tess snapped.

"Ah, been there done that." Tess rolled her eyes, unlocked the door, and climbed out. "Come on I was teasing."

"No you weren't, you're an asshole, it's in your nature act like an asshole," Tess retorted. She opened the motel door and stopped in her tracks. Sam and Grace were sitting at the round table. Sam's eyes were wet with tears and Grace looked guilty.

"What the…?" Dean asked as he nearly ran into Tess' back. "What's going on?" he asked as they stepped inside and shut the door. "What did you find out?"

"I'm sorry," Sam said looking up from the computer screen.

"Sorry about what?" Dean asked.

"Marshall Hall died at 4:17," Grace answered for him. She turned the computer screen around to face Dean. "We hacked into the security camera footage from the meeting we were at."

"The exact time I was healed…" Dean said trailing off. Sam nodded and Grace looked to Tess who was starring at Dean.

"Yeah," Sam replied. "So, Grace and I put together a list of everyone Roy's healed, six people over the past year, and I cross-checked them with the local obits." Dean approached the table and Sam handed him the folder he'd put together. "Every time someone was healed, someone else died. And each time, the victim died of the same symptom LaGrange was healing at the time."

"Someone's healed of cancer, someone else dies of cancer?" Dean asked as he read over the paper.

"Somehow. LaGrange…he's trading a life for another," Grace said and sat back down at the table.

"Wait, wait, wait. So, Marshall Hall died to save me?" Dean looked furious…and guilty.

"Dean, the guy probably would've died anyway. And someone else would've been healed," Sam said in hope of consoling his brother.

"You never should've brought me here!" Dean snapped.

"Dean, I was just trying to save your life," Sam defended.

"But, Sam, some guy is dead now because of me."

"I didn't know!"

"Arguing isn't going to help," Grace said standing up. "We don't know anything for sure, so let's try to stay rational please."

"The thing I don't understand is how is Roy doing it? How's he trading a life for a life?" Sam asked after the room had settled a moment.

"Oh, he's not doing it. Something else is doing it for him," Dean said cryptically. He glanced at Tess and they locked eyes briefly.

"What do you mean?" Grace asked. There was something in Dean's countenance that was starting to scare her.

"The old man I saw on stage. I didn't want to believe it, but deep down I knew it. There's only one thing that can give and take life like that. We're dealing with a reaper."

"You really think it's _the_ Grim Reaper? Like, angel of death, collect your soul, the whole deal?" Sam asked and felt a twinge of panic.

"No, no, no. Not _the_ Reaper, _a_ reaper. There's reaper lore in pretty much every culture on Earth. Go by a hundred different names. It's possible that there's more than one of them."

"But you said you saw a dude in a suit," Sam said in confusion. Dean rolled his eyes and grabbed their dad's journal.

"Well, what, do you think he should've been working the whole black robe thing? You said it yourself that the clock stopped, right?" Dean stopped on a certain page and held it up. "Reapers stop time. And you can only see them when they're coming at you."

"That would explain why only Dean could see him," Tess added and Dean nodded his agreement.

"There's nothing else it could be, Sam. The question is how is Roy controlling the damn thing?"

"Wait…" Sam said as realization struck him. "That cross."

"What?" Dean asked.

"There was this cross. I noticed it in the church tent; I knew I had seen it before." Sam pulled something out of the spine of the journal and began flipping through the cards. Grace was leaning over his shoulder watching. "Here."

"A tarot?" Dean asked. Tess stood from her seated position on the bed and walked over to Dean who showed her the card.

"It's possible," Tess concluded.

"It's more than possible. I mean, tarot dates back to the early Christian era, right? When some priests were still using magic? And a few of them veered into the dark stuff. Necromancy and how to push death away, how to cause it…"

"…And how to control it," Grace added.

"So, Roy is using black magic to bind the reaper?"

"If he is, he's riding the whirlwind. It's like putting a dog leash on a Great White," Sam said.

"So what, we take Roy out of the picture and the reaper goes free?" Tess asked.

"How do you suggest we do that?"

"I think it's pretty obvious how to take Roy out," Dean replied.

"Wait, what the hell are you talking about, Dean? We can't kill Roy," Sam objected.

"Why not?" Tess questioned. "If this guy is murdering people it only seems right he get a taste of his own medicine."

"But he's human," Grace protested.

"Sam, Grace, the guy's playing God, he's deciding who lives and who dies, that's a monster in my book," Dean countered.

"No, we're not going to kill a human being, Dean. We do that, we're no better than he is." Dean looked to Tess for support, but Sam's last statement seemed to have persuaded her.

"Okay, so we can't kill Roy, we can't kill death. Any bright ideas, college boy?" Dean's tone had become terse with his aggravation. He was taking the situation too personally.

"Every dark arts practice has a token, a charm of some kind," Grace chimed in. "The magic is rooted to the item."

"Yeah, if Roy is using some kind of black spell on the reaper, we have to figure out what it is. And how to break it."

"Ok then, we hit the meeting tonight and check Roy's place before he heals another person," Tess said laying out the plan.

"Works for me," Dean said looking from Tess to Sam. "Let's go.


	14. Swift Judgement

Sam and Grace were hiding behind the side of the house as they watched Sue Anne, Roy, and another man walk down the front steps and head toward the large white tent where Dean and Tess were waiting.

When they were a safe distance away, Grace and Sam slipped onto the front porch where they pried a window open. Grace entered first with Sam close behind.

"So, what are we looking for?" Grace asked as they moved through the living room.

"Crucifixes, tarot cards, totems; basically anything that could clue us in on what Roy is using to control the reaper." Grace nodded and Sam ducked into the first room.

"There's a library back here," Grace whispered as she opened a door. Sam peered out from the doorway and looked at Grace. He moved inside the room first and Grace warily followed. The whole house felt creepy.

"I'll check over here," Sam said absentmindedly as he began checking the titles of books. Grace followed suit and pulled a rather large book off of a shelf and flipped through it. It wasn't a minute later that Sam called her over. "Look at this," he said handing her a small leather booklet that looked like a diary but was about the size of an address book.

"Local Abortion Rights Advocate Calls For End To Violence Against Women," Grace read. Sam was already on the phone calling Dean. It was then that Grace saw the freshest looking newspaper clipping. _Parking Lot Protester Causes Flock Dissention…_

"Roy's choosing victims he sees as immoral. And I think I know who's next on his list. Remember that protestor?" Sam paused. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll find him. But you can't let Roy heal anyone, alright?" Dean must have hung up because Sam quickly pocketed his phone. "Come on, we need to find that protester."

X

"What did they find?" Tess asked as Dean walked back toward her. The two were standing in the back of the tent trying to keep an eye on everyone without looking suspicious. It wasn't working however. Sue Anne was glaring at Tess from the stage.

"Reaper is going after the protester we ran into in the parking lot. It seems that Roy is targeting people he thinks are immoral."

"Okay, I'll find the protester, you stall the meeting." Dean nodded. Tess was almost out of the tent when she heard the name called form the stage.

"Layla," Roy called. "Layla Rourke, come up here, child." Everyone began applauding. Tess turned and saw Dean's face had visibly paled. She took a few steps toward him and he looked over at her.

"Changed my mind," she said shortly. "You find the protestor, I'll stop the meeting." Dean glared at her.

"I can handle this. Go." He said and pointed to the exit.

"Rookie…"

"I know!" he snapped. "I know," he said more quietly. "Don't make it personal." Tess gave him an uncertain look, but left the tent and ran into the parking lot. She'd barely run past the first few cars when she heard the scream.

"Help!" that was a sure sign of trouble. Tess ducked to her left nearly slipping on the muddy ground. "Help me, someone!"

"Where are you?" Tess yelled back. She heard something hit a car a few yards in front of her and she ran toward it.

"Tess!" Grace yelled as she spotted her sister. Tess stopped and turned her head in the direction of the vice.

"Help Dean!" she ordered and Grace didn't hesitate to run toward the tent. As Tess turned, it was as though time had slowed. The air felt tight around her. It was thick, like water, but colors were sharper as though someone had increased the contrast. Her heart sank. Standing not fifteen feet in front of her was undoubtedly the reaper. It wasn't facing her, but rather the man who had fallen to the ground.

"Where is it?" It was Sam asking. He had found the man. Why couldn't he see the reaper? Sam grabbed the man and began pulling him away from the reaper. Tess hesitated before running after them. She momentarily lost sight of them as they darted between the parked cars. They weren't going to make it. She cut them off as she came up behind the Reaper.

"Sam?" Tess asked. The Reaper had vanished and Tess found Sam standing with the protestor who was clinging to him.

"David, I think its okay," Sam said in a comforting voice. He looked over the man's shoulder and made eye contact with Tess. "Dean got it, he stopped Roy," Sam said as one of his ears was pressed to his cell phone. Tess sighed and nodded before turning to walk back toward the tent. David, the protestor, turned to see who Sam was talking to, but when he did the man's face paled and he screamed. Tess turned back to see that the Reaper had reappeared and was holding David by the face.

"Sam!" she yelled and sprinted toward them. She pulled her gun from its holster, not sure if it was even going to help. She fired. A passenger window shattered, but the reaper was unharmed. She was standing behind the reaper now and did the only thing she could think of, she grabbed it shoulder, turned it to face her and drew her fist back.

"Tess!" Sam called, but his words ceased as he covered his ears and sank to his knees. The reaper was shrieking and cowering away. It vanished. Tess stood there with her fist drawn back and her heart slamming in her chest.

"You…you stopped it," David said from the ground. Tess looked down at him with wide eyes. He started laughing and jumped to his feet hugging her tightly. "Thank God." Sam and Tess made eye contact, both of them thinking the same thing, _what the hell?_

X

"I just don't understand," Sue Anne was saying as she faced Dean. Tess, Grace, and Sam were standing a few steps away watching. "After everything we've done for you, after Roy healed you. We're very, very disappointed, Dean." She looked up at the two officers that were holding Dean. "You can let him go, I'm not gonna press charges. The Lord will deal with him as he sees fit." Dean jerked himself free as Sue Anne left them to attend to her husband.

"We catch you around here again, son, we'll put the fear of God in you, understand?" One of the officers said threateningly.

"Yes, sir," Dean said sarcastically. "Fear of God. Got it." The officers glared at him before walking off. Dean turned to the group, but spotted Layla. "Layla!" The blonde woman stopped and looked at Dean, hurt poured from her eyes in tears.

"Why would you do that, Dean? When it could've been my only chance?" she asked in a low voice.

"He's not a healer, Layla," Dean replied.

"He healed you." She retorted.

"I know it doesn't seem fair. And I wish I could explain, but Roy is not the answer. I'm sorry," Dean said sincerely. Grace and Sam exchanged looks.

"Goodbye, Dean. I wish you luck. I really do." Dean felt a painful churn in his chest.

"Same to you," he called as he watched her walk away. "You deserve it a lot more than me." He sighed and began making his way over to the group, his eyes on the ground, when he passed Sue Anne, Roy, and Mrs. Rourke.

"Private session tonight. No interruptions. I give you my word. I'll heal your daughter," Roy said and Mrs. Rourke lit up.

"Thank you, Reverend. God bless you." Dean winced and shook his head. This was going to be trouble.

X

"So Roy really believes?" Sam asked as he sat on the edge of the motel bed. Tess handed him a box of Chinese take-out that she and Grace were unloading from a plastic bag.

"I don't think he has any idea what his wife's doing," Dean said with food still in his mouth. Grace settled in the chair across from him and Tess leaned against the wall.

"She's probably cheating on him too," she teased, but no one laughed. Sam pulled something from his back pocket.

"Well, I found this hidden in their library," he said handing the book to Dean. Tess pushed herself off the wall and looked at it over Dean's shoulder. "It's ancient. Written by a priest who went dark side. There's a binding spell in here for trapping a reaper."

"Must be a hell of a spell," Dean said handing it to Tess who set her carton down and flipped through it.

"Yeah. You've got to build a black altar, with seriously dark stuff. Bones, human blood. To cross the line like that, that preacher's wife. Black magic, murder. Evil…"

"Psychotic…"

"Desperate," Dean interrupted. "Her husband was dying, she'd have done anything to save him. She was using the binding spell to keep the reaper away from Roy."

"You can't cheat death," Grace chimed in. "That must be why someone else dies of the exact same thing. The price of death _always _gets paid."

"That was morbid," Tess said looking up at Grace.

"What I don't get is, Roy's alive," Dean said. "Why is Sue Anne still using the spell? Roy's dept was paid, wasn't it?"

"The woman's insane," Tess said tossing the booklet on the table. "She thinks she's God…or working for him or something. She's offing people who she thinks are immoral."

"_Offing_ people?" Grace asked. "Now who's being morbid?" Tess rolled her eyes but otherwise ignored the comment.

"Sue Anne has a cross just like this on her necklace," Dean said pointing to the symbol in the book. "When she dropped it, the reaper backed off." Sam and Tess made eye contact.

"So which one was controlling it?" Grace asked. "I mean which one do we destroy? The necklace or the altar…"

"Both," Dean and Tess said at the same time. Dean looked up at her, but she was still starring at Sam who was looking at Grace.

"Whatever we do, we better do it soon. Roy's healing Layla tonight," Dean said looking back at Sam.

"Ok," Sam said standing. "Let's get to the house. We'll figure out where to go from there."

"Is this the part where we all clap hands and yell _break_?" No one answered Dean as they headed out of the motel room.

X

"That's Layla's car," Sam said as he and Dean crouched behind Tess' truck. They figured it would be less likely to spot than the impala. "She's already here."

"Yeah," Dean muttered halfheartedly.

"Dean…"

"You know, if Roy would have picked Layla instead of me, she'd be healed right now," Dean said practically glaring at Sam.

"What's happening to her is horrible. But, what are you gonna do? Let somebody else die to save her? You said it yourself, Dean. You can't play God."

"Can you two stay focused please," Tess said sternly from her position in the driver's seat. Grace was standing outside the tent flap looking inside with her arms folded.

"Roy is starting the meeting," Grace said in a hushed voice into her cell phone. Tess had hers on speakerphone so Dean and Sam would hear. "Sue Anne isn't here…"

"House…" Sam said looking at Dean.

"Grace, stay put and stall the meeting," Tess said as she opened her door and stepped onto the muddy ground. "Cops," Tess said and grabbed Sam's arm as he was about to pass her.

"You two go ahead," Dean said as he moved past them.

"Dean!" Sam whispered harshly. "What are you doing?" It was too late. Dean was already around the front of the house.

"Hey! You gonna put that fear of God in me?" Then there was the sound of running. Sam and Tess looked at one another. Sam glanced over Tess's shoulder.

"Cellar," he said pointing. Tess nodded as the two of them each grabbed a door and flung it open. Tess entered first with Sam right behind her. Sam moved to the left around a pile of musty boxes and Tess founder herself rounding a bookshelf that had jars of goopy floating objects she prayed was some kind of fruit.

"Sam!" Tess called. He was at her side in an instant. "Think I found it," she said pointing to a table covered in a black table cloth. The assortment of ritualistic bones, symbols, and dried blood was enough to make both hunters shiver. "Oh God…" Tess muttered as the centerpiece of the altar entered her vision. "Dean…" she picked up the picture of Dean's face that had a red X through it. Blood.

"I gave your brother life, and I can take it away…" Both of them turned quickly and saw Sue Anne standing behind them holding the cross around her neck. Tess jumped aside as Sam overturned the table successfully destroying the altar. While they were distracted, Sue Anne rushed out the cellar door and slammed it shut. Tess rammed her shoulder into the door but it didn't budge. "Can't you see? The Lord chose me to reward the just and punish the wicked. And Dean is wicked. And he deserves to die just as Layla deserves to live. It's God's will."

"Hey psycho!" Tess called. "Last time I checked, God wasn't a prudish, self righteous, bitchy house-wife on a power trip!"

"And you, missy," Sue Anne called. "You'll get what your whorish ways deserve. Swift judgment."

"Yeah, and I'm taking you with me!" Then silence. Sue Anne had left. "We have to get to your brother," Tess said turning to face Sam. He glanced to his right and Tess's eyes followed. A window. In an instant, Sam had hoisted Tess up to it and she pried it open with a metal bar. Tess crawled through it, rounded the house and kicked the crowbar out from the cellar door. Sam came bursting through and the tow sprinted for the tent.

"Split up, you find Dean and I'll get Sue Anne," Sam called and they parted ways. Tess headed into the parking lot and looked around frantically. She pulled her cell phone out and dialed Grace's number.

"It's Dean," she yelled as soon as Grace picked up. "Sue Anne is headed for Dean. Where is he?"

"I-I don't know…should I stop the meeting?" Grace asked in a panicked whisper.

"No, keep everyone where they are. It'll be easier to see Dean. If Roy starts to heal Layla."

"I know. I'm on it." Tess hung up. She heard a dog barking in the distance and ran toward the sound. The street lights began to dim…then went out completely.

"Dean!" she yelled. "Where are you?" No answer. Then she felt it. The heaviness in the air again. The colors brightened and the shadows became darker. The reaper was here.

X

Sam practically slammed into Grace as he entered the tent. She turned and he pulled her out of the tent.

"Any sign of her?" he asked out of breath.

"No, Tess is looking for Dean in the parking lot."

"We're running out of time. She has to be around here somewhere!" He furiously ran a hand through his hair.

"Check out back, I'll go and help Tess find Dean." Sam nodded before heading to the back of the tent. Grace ran to the section of cars and had made it only a few steps among the dark lot before she saw Dean's silhouette. "Dean!" she yelled. He didn't turn to face her, but instead sank to his knees. He was gasping for air. "Dean!" she screamed and sprinted to him. She collapsed to her knees, the dirt tearing into her skin, and she grabbed his shoulders. His face was paling as though the life were being drained from him. "Dean, come on, fight it, come on! Tess! Tess where are you!"

X

Sam spotted Sue Anne kneeling behind the tent. He grabbed her shoulder and ripped the cross from her neck.

"No!" she cried as he dropped it to the ground and stomped on it. Sam glared at her. Sue Anne's eyes widened, but she wasn't looking at him. She screamed and stood before fleeing. She didn't make it far before she collapsed presumably and most definitely dead.

Sam could hear commotion from inside the tent and decided it wouldn't be a good idea to be seen near Sue Anne's dead body. He turned and ran toward the parked cars. He needed to find Dean.

X

"Tess!" the redhead turned as she heard her sister scream her name. She was kneeling in the dirt hunched over Dean's body.

"No…" Tess whispered and ran over. "What happened?" she demanded.

"He was…the reaper was…and then he collapsed. I don't think he's breathing." Tess dropped to her knees and pressed her fingers to his neck. There was a pulse. But he definitely wasn't breath. "Sam!" Tess vaguely registered Sam's arrival as she tilted Dean's head back and pinched his nose.

"I don't understand…I stopped the reaper…it got Sue Anne," Sam said. Tess covered Dean's mouth with hers as she blew air into his lungs. "He can't be dead…Dean what are you…" Tess felt a hand on the back of her head and the pressure of a tongue against hers. She jerked back.

"What the hell?" Tess asked angrily as she looked down at Dean. He was grinning from ear to ear. Her face turned red with anger as he sat up.

"Dying man's last wish," he said and winked at her. Tess was so angry she was beyond words. Well…almost beyond words.

"You son of a bitch," she yelled and shoved him back into the mud. Dean and Sam were both laughing and even Grace cracked a smile. "You can all go to hell!" Tess stormed away from them to her truck and slammed the door as she got in.

"Definitely worth it," Dean said as Sam helped him to his feet.

X

Grace cursed as she heard a knock on her motel room door. She set the first aide kit aside and limped over to the door.

"Sam," she said with surprise as she saw him standing on the other side. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when he looked down at her bleeding knee.

"What happened?" he asked as he stepped inside. Grace chuckled nervously and shut the door.

"Oh, nothing big, just a good old fashioned skinned knee. Did-uh did you need something?" she asked. Sam clearly wasn't listening. He had crossed to the bed and grabbed the first aid kit.

"Sit," he said and Grace didn't hesitate to limp back over to the bed. Sam knelt and dabbed at the blood with an alcohol wipe. "Where's Tess?" he asked breaking the silence. Grace balled her fists as she gripped the bedspread. She didn't want Sam to know how much her knee was stinging.

"Uh-she went to fill up the truck. We're heading out as soon as she gets back." Sam didn't look up, but he nodded.

"So how mad is she?" he asked with laughter in his voice. Grace handed him a band aide and he peeled away the paper.

"She'll probably kill Dean the next time she sees him, but other than that, she's not mad at all." They both laughed and Sam looked up at her. Grace felt her breath catch in her throat.

"Thanks for coming Grace," Sam said with a serious expression on his face. "You've…you're a really good friend." Grace smiled.

"Anytime." They held eyes for a moment and Grace felt like she might lose herself in his eyes. Sam must have been thinking something similar because he was absentmindedly stroking her leg with his thumb.

The moment was broken as the motel room door slammed open and Tess entered looking as frazzled as ever. She froze when she saw the scene in front of her. Slowly Tess arched an eyebrow and Sam stood abruptly.

"Right…" Tess said slowly. "I'm just ganna go…away…" she said and turned around shutting the door behind her. Sam looked back down at Grace and saw her looking back up at him. He forced a smile.

X

Tess was putting more oil in her car when she saw the blonde woman exiting Dean and Sam's motel room. She stopped and stood upright. Layla got back into her car and drove away. For a moment Tess felt a bubble of anger rising up in her chest…but she didn't know why.

The motel room door opened again and Dean exited. Tess quickly ducked back under the hood hoping that he hadn't seen her. No such luck. A few moments later the sound of gravel crunching beneath boots alerted her to his presence.

"If you want all your limbs in tact, you should probably turn around and walk away," she warned.

"Ah come on, you're not still angry are you?" Dean asked with his usual arrogant tone. Tess rolled her eyes and screwed the oil cap back on. She turned and folded her arms over her chest. "I'll take that as a yes…" Dean said and stuffed his hands in his pockets. He took a step forward. "You know, I think I've figured you out…" he said and took yet another step forward.

"Really? Enlighten me," Tess said without a hint of interest in her voice. Dean chuckled. Tess was clearly not intimidated.

"I think you like me," he said grinning. Tess snorted and rolled her eyes. "See, that's how I know…you like me and you won't admit it, because you're scared."

"Scared? Of you? Dean, I think the near death experience has done some brain damage," Tess retorted. Dean was standing directly in front of her, but she refused to back up.

"What I can't figure out is why?" he said in a low tone as he placed his hands on either side of the truck behind her.

"You think that because I don't jump into bed with you that I'm scared?" Tess asked in an equally low tone. "Ever stop to consider that maybe you're just not my type?" Dean grinned.

"That's fine with me," he whispered as he inched closer, Tess felt a weight on her chest. "You're not my type either." His lips almost grazed hers, but he felt himself stumbling backward. Tess placed a hand on his chest and gave him a shove.

"Good, then we agree on something." Tess slammed the hood shut and walked past him. "Grace let's go!" she called as she slipped into the driver's side of the truck. Grace and Sam quickly said goodbye and Grace jogged over to the truck where she climbed in. Tess pulled her sunglasses off of the visor and revved the engine. Dean had fixed her with a burning gaze. She quickly slipped the sunglasses on so he couldn't see the fear in her eyes. She threw the car into reverse and let out a shuddering breath.

"What's wrong?" Grace asked as she turned to look at her sister. Tess took a deep breath to try and slow her pounding heart.

"Nothing."


	15. Missing in Action

Tess stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself. She lifted a brush to start on her hair when she heard a beeping sound. She set the brush down and left the bathroom

It was still early in the morning. She and Grace had been enjoying a relaxing break at the lake house for almost three weeks now. Tess was about to go insane. She tracked the beeping to the dining room and passed Grace's unconscious form on the living room couch.

Tess sat at the table and tapped the mouse pad on Grace's lap top. There was a new instant message from a user named Watcher23. _Missing persons in Hibbing, . Looks bad_. Tess clicked away at the keys.

'Details. Who, what, where, when, why and how do we kill it?' A moment later the Watcher responded.

_Possible hunting grounds of a phantom attacker. Dark figure that comes out at night. Grabs people, and then vanishes. This county has more missing persons per capita than anywhere else in the state._

'We're on it. Text the cell with more updates'. Tess rushed upstairs and threw on a pair of dark jeans, her steel toe boots, a black tank top and a red sweater. She dug in her closet for her grey ski jacket, threw it on and tied her hair back into a messy bun. Her duffle was still packed.

She was out of the house in seven minutes flat. No sense in waking Grace. She'd left a note this time.

_Went on a hunt. Be back soon_.

X

Sam woke to the sound of his cell phone ringing. He rolled onto his side and groped around on the nightstand until he felt it.

"Hello?" he asked with sleep still in his voice.

"Sam, it's Grace." Sam sat up in bed. "Tess left again. She went on a hunt by herself. Have you heard from her?"

"No, not at all." The truth was, only Grace and Sam had kept in contact since the events with Roy LeGrange and that had only been minimal text messaging.

"Where are you guys?" Grace sounded frantic. Sam could picture the blonde's eyes filled with tears and he felt the urge to comfort her.

"Uh, we're just outside of Minneapolis, we're headed to North Dakota later. We have a lead on a hunt."

"The last message on my computer was from a Watcher saying there's a case in Hibbing…" Sam heard the clicking of keys on the other end. "Look you're only two hours from Hibbing, can you…"

"Yeah of course," Sam said immediately. "I'll just wake Dean up. Don't worry Grace, Tess is smart. She won't get in over her head."

"You don't know her like I do…"

X

"So, local police have now ruled out foul play. Apparently, there are worse signs of a struggle," Sam said from the passenger seat of the car. He was on his laptop researching the local folklore of Hibbing while on the drive. Apparently one person had already gone missing in the last three days. Alvin Jenkins was taken from a parking lot and the only witness was a young boy who had seen it from his bedroom window.

"Well, they could be right; it could just be a kidnapping. Maybe this isn't our kind of gig," Dean said as he turned off the interstate and onto a smaller highway. "Did Grace say anything about what it could be?"

"No," Sam said but he checked his phone again anyway. He'd been doing that a lot over the last three weeks. In fact, he wouldn't _stop_ checking his phone.

"Dad marked the area, Dean," Sam said as he flipped open the journal. "Possible hunting grounds of a phantom attacker. There's a lot of information in here about missing people attacked by shadows in the night. No one has ever returned."

"Spooky," Dean said glancing at the journal. "Have you tried Tess' cell phone?" Sam rolled his eyes.

"Of course, I've tried every twenty minutes since Grace called. It's turned off or the battery is dead." Dean furrowed his brow.

"So why are _we_ getting involved with this. What happened to the series of hauntings in North Dakota? Was that bogus?"

"I don't know," Sam said and kept his eyes focused on the journal. "Grace called and plans changed."

"Tess is a big girl, I'm sure she can handle herself." Sam didn't respond at first and Dean glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "Don't tell me we dropped an actual lead because you wanted to help Grace."

"Why shouldn't we? They've helped us out of a few scrapes. It's what Hunters do. They help each other."

"No Sam, that's what _friends_ do. Hunters get the job done regardless of anything else," Dean retorted. Sam shut his laptop.

"Ok fine, whatever, so we're helping out a friend. I don't see why it makes a difference. People need our help so we're helping."

"Man you just want to get laid," Dean argued and Sam faltered for a moment. _Grace?_

"Oh come off it, like you wouldn't have done the exact same thing if Tess had called." Dean shrugged. "Man you were all over her last time we met up."

"Yeah, but it's me…I'm _always_ all over the hot chick. You? Not so much." Sam snorted and rolled his eyes. Dean sighed. "Don't phantom attackers usually snatch people from their beds? Didn't you say Jenkins was taken from a parking lot?"

"Yeah he was, but there are all kinds. You know, Springhill Jacks, phantom gassers. They take people anywhere, anytime. Look, Dean, I don't know if this is our kind of gig either, but I promised Grace we'd check on Tess."

"Yeah alright, but I swear Sam, if we end up just getting our asses chewed off by Tess, I'll leave you alone to fend for yourself." Sam shrugged.

"Hey, she likes me. It's _you_ she has a problem with."

X

"I know you're just doing your job, but the police have been here all week already," Mrs. McKay said as she stared at the redheaded woman who was dressed like a county officer. "I don't see why we have to go through this again. The more he tells the story, the more he believes it's true."

"I understand this is difficult for you Mrs. McKay and I certainly don't want to cause your son any more trauma, but there seem to be some holes in the investigation. Do you mind going over the story just one more time?" Mrs. McKay nodded and placed a hand on her son's shoulder. "Go on Evan, just tell me what happened," Tess said as she smiled down at the young boy. Who said her people skills needed work?

"I was up late, watching TV. When I heard this weird noise. It sounded like….a monster." Tess nodded.

"Tell the officer what you were watching on TV," Mrs. McKay said raising both eyebrows.

"Godzilla Vs. Mothra," Evan said adverting his eyes. Tess grinned.

"Good movie. Much better than the original. Evan looked back up at her and smiled. "Go on."

"I didn't see the monster, I was too scared to look, but I saw it grab Mr. Jenkins. It pulled him underneath the car. It took him away. I heard the monster leaving. It made this really scary sound."

"MmHmm, what did the monster sound like?" Tess asked and chanced a look at Mrs. McKay.

"Like this whining…growl." Evan shuddered and his eyes were wide with fear. Mrs. McKay tightened her grip on her son.

"Don't worry, that's all for today. Thank you for your time." Mrs. McKay nodded and showed Tess the door. She hopped into her truck and drove to the local motel where she had made base.

X

"Look there's a local motel. It's the closest one to the disappearances. I bet that's where Tess is staying," Sam said and Dean turned right into the motel. He parked and they both quickly exited.

"You start knocking on doors, I'll check the front desk," Dean said and they parted ways. Dean stepped into the main lobby of the motel and rang the bell. A pimple faced man with short greasy hair and a ketchup stain on his shirt approached.

"What can I do you for?" the man asked and pushed his glasses up higher on his nose. Dean resisted a laugh.

"Hey you seen a hot redheaded number recently?" The man's smile grew indicating he had. Dean leaned closer resting his forearms on the counter. "Mind telling me what room she's in, I sorta got this thing going with her. We're supposed to meet up later, but I forgot what room she was in." The man hocked a logy and Dean gagged.

"Well I uh, I'm not supposed to do that, see my manager already thinks that I've been…"

"Hey man come on," Dean said and gave him a charming grin. "I'll tell you what," he said lowering his voice to a whisper. "I'll put in a good word for ya, how's that sound?" The man's eyes widened and he shifted his weight.

"That and twenty bucks and you got yourself a deal." Dean soured as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. _Tess better be paying me back…_

The man handed him a room key and Dean smiled gratefully as he stepped back outside. He saw Sam speaking with an older man but the room door quickly shut.

"Hey I got it," Dean called and Sam joined him. "Room 23." They entered a hallway that led past a series of vending machines and soon reached the door. Dean slipped the key in the hole and opened the door. Empty room.

"She must have just left," Sam said seeing the clothes strewn about the room. Dean checked the bathroom. No Tess. "Look Dean," Sam said picking up a police uniform shirt. "Looks like she's already investigating." He tossed the shirt to Dean and he looked it over then smelled it. "Dude…" Sam said in disgust.

"What…it smells good," he defended and Sam rolled his eyes. Dean smelled it one last time before setting it on the bed. "What's that?" he asked seeing a leather bound book on the table. Sam picked it up and they stood side by side reading it.

_Questioned the boy. Only lead is a 'whinnying growl' sound. _Dean and Sam made eye contact.

"Well what now college boy?" Dean asked. Sam closed the book and set it back down.

"I say we hit the local bars, check around and see if anyone has seen Tess or if they have any idea what's been taking people. Sooner or later we'll have to stumble across her." Dean nodded.

X

"Anything?" Sam asked as he approached Dean who was sitting at the bar. Dean swallowed his drink before answering.

"Yeah, I guess Tess was in here about two hours ago. Caused quite a scene with a local. Apparently he grabbed her and she broke his wrist."

"Yeah that sounds like Tess," Sam chuckled. "Any idea where she went after that?" Dean shook his head.

"Nah, but if I were her I'd head back to the motel. It's getting late," Dean said and Sam nodded. "I'll meet you at the car, I gatta take a leak."

"Yeah alight," Sam said and headed for the door. He pulled his dad's journal out of his back pocket and flipped it open to the section about Hibbing. He heard a rustling sound to his left and set the book on the hood of the impala. He pulled a flashlight from his coat pocket and shone it in the direction he'd heard the noise. It led him to a car and he crouched. "Whoa!" he said as a cat hissed at him. He chuckled and stood. Just a cat.

X

Dean stepped out of the bar as he pulled his coat on and approached the impala. His brow furrowed as he saw his dad's journal just sitting there. He picked it up and looked around. Nothing. He opened the car and looked in the back.

"Sam?" he asked as he felt a bubble of panic building in his chest. He ran back toward the bar and stopped in front of a couple that was leaving. "Hey, you guys been outside, around here in the last hour or so?" They shook their head no. "Sam!" Dean yelled and ran through the parking lot. "Sammy!" he looked up and saw a camera on the end of a phone pole. He stopped in the middle of the street. "Sam…"


	16. The Search

"So, what can we do for you, Officer Washington?" an officer named Kathleen asked as she scanned the fake ID. Dean had spent the whole night looking for Sam. He even went back to the motel and waited for Tess, but she never showed. He was getting desperate.

"I'm working a missing persons," Dean answered. His tone was much more relaxed than he actually was.

"I didn't know the Jenkins case was being covered by the state police," Kathleen said with confusion.

"Oh, no. No, it's someone else. Two people. Actually, one of them is my cousin. The other is my…girlfriend. My cousin and I came up here to try and find Tess, we were havin' a few last night at this bar down by the highway. And I haven't seen him since." Kathleen looked surprised.

"When was the last time you heard from your girlfriend?" Kathleen asked and Deans shifted his weight.

"Not for a few weeks…see she and I had a fight and she sort of took off. Her sister called and said she was in this area and I came to try and patch things up. You know how it goes," Dean said with a forced smile. Kathleen only nodded.

"And then your cousin went missing?" Kathleen asked and Dean nodded. "Any chance they ran off together?" Dean blanched.

"What, no…they'd, no never," Dean said trying to keep his cool. Kathleen held both hands up as a sign of surrender.

"Alright, does your cousin have a drinking problem of any kind?" Dean chuckled.

"Sam? Two beers and he's doing karaoke." Kathleen chuckled. "No, he wasn't drunk. He was taken. I'm positive." Kathleen stood and moved over to a computer. Dean followed her and sat at a chair near her desk.

"Alright. What are their names?"

"My cousin, Sam Winchester," Dean said. "And my girl is Tess…uh… Tess… Beckett! Tess Beckett." Kathleen nodded and added the names.

"Sam Winchester…like the rifle?"

"Like the rifle," Dean said. His dad had picked the name. Go figure.

"Samuel Winchester. So, you know that his brother, Dean Winchester, was involved with a murder in St. Louis with a...look alike?" Kathleen said with raised eyebrows. Dean sat back nervously.

"Yeah, Dean. It was a complicated situation. He's uh...kind of the black sheep of the family. Handsome, though," Dean chuckled. Kathleen eyed him for a moment.

"Uh-huh," she said nodding and clicking away at keys. "And Tamzin 'Tess' Beckett…hmm that's odd." Dean peered around the computer. "Seems she's been involved with the law. Looks like her boyfriend did a number on her. Gabriel Simmons was arrested for assault, rape, and criminal mischief. Jeeze." Dean looked shocked. "Did you know any of this?"

"Uh…yeah, yeah," Dean said covering for himself. "That's how we met; I was the officer who took care of her case." Kathleen nodded suspiciously.

"How romantic," she said and Dean smiled. Kathleen turned back to the computer and shrugged. "Well, neither of them are showing up in any current field reports…"

"Oh I already have a lead, on Sammy anyway. I saw a surveillance camera by the highway."

"Uh-huh. The county traffic cam?"

"Right. Yeah. I'm thinking the camera picked up whatever took him. Or, whoever… and if anything I bet Tess is around here somewhere. It's Sam I'm worried about."

"Right, I have access to the traffic cam footage down at the county works department, but…well, anyhow, let's do this the right way. "She stood up and pulled some paper work from a filing cabinet. "Why don't you fill out a missing persons report and sit tight over here?" she handed him a clipboard.

"Officer, look, uh, he's family. I kind of—I kind of look out for the kid. You gotta let me go with you."

"I'm sorry, I can't do that," Kathleen said with genuine remorse in her voice.

"Well, tell me something. Your county has its fair share of missing persons. Any of 'em come back?" He fixed her with his best stare and he watched her resolve melt away.

X

Dean sat on the bench outside the county office fiddling with his phone. Sam wasn't answering, not that he was surprised. Neither was Tess. He didn't have Grace's number. He wasn't sure he'd call her even if he did. There wasn't anything she could do.

"Greg." Dean turned and saw Kathleen walking toward him. He stood and she extended something to him. I think we've got something." She handed him printouts of pictures. "These traffic cams take an image every three seconds, as part of the Amber Alert program. These images were all taken around the time that your cousin, Sam, disappeared."

"This isn't really what I'm looking for…" Dean trailed off and Kathleen smirked.

"Just wait, wait…next one." He flipped the page and saw the image of a rusty old truck. "This one was taken right after Sam left the bar. Look at the back end of that thing. Now, look at the plates." Dean turned another page and the picture was a close up of the license plate.

"Oh, the plates look new. It's probably stolen," he said and looked at Kathleen. She nodded.

"So, whoever's driving that rust bucket must be involved." Dean looked up as a black van drove by. The engine was squealing loudly. "Hear that engine? Kind of a whining growl, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Kathleen answered but the confusion was evident in her voice.

"I'll be damned…"

X

Sam opened his eyes and groaned. His whole body hurt. He gasped as he took in his surroundings. Metal cage. Some kind of barn or shed. It was dirty and it smelled like rotting animal. There was noise from the cage next to his and Sam gripped the bard.

"You're alive," Sam said and the man groaned again. "Hey you ok?" he asked as the man fully woke up.

"Does it look like I'm doin' okay?" the man asked in aggravation. Sam could relate to him.

"Where are we?" he asked in hopes of getting answers.

"I don't know. The country, I think. Smells like the country." Sam nodded. Its true. There was definitely the smell of manure in the air.

"You're Alvin Jenkins, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Jenkins answered and Sam sighed.

"I was lookin' for ya."

"Oh, yeah? Well, no offense, but this is a piss-poor rescue." Sam agreed silently.

"Hey, you seen a woman about 5'6, blue eyes, red hair, maybe twenty-three?" Sam asked. Hell, if Jenkins was here, then maybe Tess was too.

"I wish," Jenkins said with a chuckle. "You expecting one?'" Sam only sighed and shook his head.

"No, but my brother's out there. He'll be looking for us. Don't worry if anyone can find us…"

"So, he's not gonna find us. We're in the middle of nowhere." Jenkins nodded toward the door. "Waiting for them to come back and do God-knows-what to us." Sam felt a shiver of fear creep up his spine.

"What are they? Have you seen them?" Sam asked but he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"What are you talking about?"

"Whatever's got us, what'd they look like?"

"See for yourself." The door rattled as someone undid a lock. The door opened and two hooded figures entered. They were wearing black coats and hats. One man walked over to Jenkins's cage and kicked the side of it. He moved back into the corner. The other man went to a panel of buttons attached to a pole in the middle of the room. He inserted some sort of key into the panel and twisted it. Suddenly the door to Jenkins' cage unlocked. One of the men entered "Leave me alone! Don't you take me, leave me alone!" The man dropped a plate of food before shutting the door. The other man turned the key and the door locked. Jenkins devoured his food as soon as the men had left.

"I'll be damned. They're just people…" Sam said to himself. "How often do they feed you?"

"Once a day. And they use that thing over there to open the cage," Jenkins said and Sam looked over to the panel.

"And that's the only time you see them?" Sam asked. Jenkins nodded.

"So far. But I'm waiting…"

"Waiting for what?"

"Ned Beatty time, man."

"I think that's the least of your worries right now."

"What do you think they want, then?" Sam noticed a pole above his cage and reached through the bars to grab it. He tried to pull it, but it wouldn't budge.

"Depends on who they are…" Sam said with a grunt as he pulled harder.

"They're a bunch of psycho hillbilly rednecks, if you ask me. Lookin' for love in all the wrong places." Sam continues to pull on the tube. It gradually started to detach from the pole.

X

"Okay, the next traffic cam is fifty miles from here, and the pickup didn't pass that one, so…." Kathleen said from the driver's seat of the cruiser. Dean was sitting in the passenger seat and kept his eyes on the road.

"So, it must've pulled off somewhere. I didn't see any other roads here," Dean said looking over at Kathleen.

"Well, a lot of these backwoods properties have their own private roads," Kathleen said glancing at Dean.

"Great…" He stared out the window again. He needed to find Sam. And where the hell was Tess? He pulled out his phone and dialed her number again. It rang. Dean perked up.

"Roo…" static… "its…what you…." Static. Dean felt himself begin to panic and forced himself to be cool.

"Tess! Tess what the hell is going on?" he yelled. "Tess?" There was nothing but static on the other end. Then it cleared up. "Tess?" He pulled the phone away as an earth shattering scream split through the air. "Tess!" Then nothing. The phone went dead.

"What's wrong? What is it?" Kathleen asked with concern in her voice. Dean looked at her with wild eyes.

"We need to find Sam." Was all he said. This was bad. This was really, really bad. They were silent for a moment until Kathleen's computer beeped.

"So, Gregory," Kathleen said looking from the computer to Dean. "I ran your badge number. It's routine when we're working a case with state police. For accounting purposes and what have you. And, uh, they just got back to me." She pulled the car to the side of the road. "It says here your badge was stolen." Dean looked surprised. "And there's a picture of you." She turned the screen to reveal a picture of a heavy African-American man.

"I lost some weight," he said with a nervous chuckle. "And I got that Michael Jackson skin disease." Kathleen took off her seatbelt.

"Okay, would you step out of the car, please?" Kathleen reached for the doorknob.

"Look, look, look," Dean pleaded ad Kathleen hesitated. "If you want to arrest me, that's fine. I'll cooperate, I swear. But, first, please…let me find Sam." Dean was beginning to feel hopeless. He hated that feeling.

"I don't even know who you are," Kathleen reasoned. "Or if this Sam person is missing or if you are even dating this girl Tess."

"Come on, you heard the phone call, something isn't right and I'm the only one who can do something." Kathleen raised her eyebrows. "Look into my eyes and tell me if I'm lying about this."

"Identity theft? You're impersonating an officer." Dean wasn't above begging at this point.

"Look, here's the thing. When we were young, I pretty much pulled him from a fire. And ever since then, I've felt responsible for him. Like it's my job to keep him safe. And Tess…this girl has saved my ass more times than I can remember. I'm just afraid if we don't find them fast…please." He heard his voice cracked, but at the moment looking macho wasn't on his agenda.

"I'm sorry. You've given me no choice. I have to take you in." As Kathleen went to get out of the car she glanced at her visor. A photo of herself and another man smiling stared back at her. She sighed heavily. "After we find Tess Beckett and Sam Winchester." She pulled her seatbelt back on. Dean was confused to say the least, but he wasn't going to press his luck. "Just tell me one thing," Kathleen said looking at him. "Are you Gabriel Simmons?"

"No," Dean answered quickly. Kathleen stared into his eyes for a moment and nodded before starting the car.


	17. All Tied Up

"What's your name, again?" Jenkins asked from his cage. Sam was still trying to remove the tube from the ceiling, but he relaxed momentarily to answer the question.

"It's Sam"

"Why don't you give it up, Sammy, there's no way out." Jenkins barked. Sam felt a surge of anger overcome him at the obnoxious nickname

"Don't….call me….Sammy," he snapped and the tube tore from the ceiling. He ducked as it fell through the bars and he studied the end of it.

"What is it?" Jenkins asked with a sudden wave of curiosity.

"It's a bracket," Sam answered with confusion.

"Well, thank God, a bracket. Now we've got 'em, huh?" Sam was about to lay into the annoyingly pessimistic man, but there was a series of clicks and Jenkins' cage door popped open. "Must've been short…" Jenkins said as he exited the cage. "Maybe you knocked something loose." Sam shook his head. Something was wrong.

"I think you should get back in there, Jenkins," Sam advised.

"What? Don't you wanna get out of here?"

"Yeah. But that was too easy." Nothing was _ever_ that easy.

"Look, I'm gonna get out of here, and I'm gonna send help, okay, don't worry."

"No, I'm serious. Jenkins, this might be a trap!"

"Bye, Sammy."

"Jenkins!" Sam was too late however, Jenkins had already slipped from through door. Any hope of Jenkins' escape being legit was squelched as his cage once again slammed shut. Sam let out an angry growl and sat with his back against the bars and waited. Not ten minutes later he heard the screams of the dying man. Sam had never felt so alone in that moment. _Hurry Dean…_

X

They'd been searching for hours. Who knew a fifty mile stretch of road could stretch so far. Dean's mind was racing. Every second that passed seemed to stretch longer than humanly possible. He was worried…petrified even. Whatever had his brother, he needed to get there fast. And Tess… he was just as worried about her. The phone call had thrown him. Who was it that had screamed? He prayed to any deity listening that it wasn't her. If anything laid a hand on her…

"Hey, Officer? Look, I don't mean to press my luck…" Dean said as he held onto his coffee.

"Your luck is so pressed," Kathleen said with a bitter chuckle.

"Right. I was wondering…why are you helping me out, anyway? Why don't you just lock me up?" Kathleen sighed and looked down at her own cup.

"My brother, Riley, disappeared three years ago. A lot like Sam. We searched for him, but…nothing." Dean felt compassion for her, but it explained a lot. "I know what it's like to feel responsible for someone and for them…" Dean didn't need to hear the rest of her sentence to know what she was getting at. _For them to die._ _For them to count on you only to be let down…_ "Come on. Let's keep at it." They entered the car and Dean took a drink of his coffee as he resumed starring out the window.

It was enough to drive him insane. Dean wasn't a patient person. He couldn't handle the waiting part of the job. Especially when lives were hanging in the balance. When Sam's life was hanging in the balance. What would his dad say if he knew he'd let Sam get taken? What would his dad do in this situation? Deans hook his head, _no, dad never would have let this happen. He's smarter than that…than me…_

"Wait, wait, wait!" Dean said as he saw something out his window. "Pull over here. Pull over." Kathleen complied and Dean jumped out of the car with Kathleen hot on his heels. "It's the first turn-off I've seen so far." Dean and Kathleen stared down the small dirt road and Dean felt hope welling up inside of him.

"You stay here, I'll check it out," Kathleen said and began walking down the trail

"No way," Dean replied as he followed her. Kathleen stopped and faced him

"Hey. You're a civilian. And a felon… I think. I'm not taking you with me."

"You're not going without me," Dean argued. Kathleen may be a cop, and a tough one at that, but she didn't know what she was getting herself into. Truth be told, neither of them did.

"Alright. You promise you won't get involved? You'll let me handle it?" Dean raised an eyebrow. That was easy…

"Yeah, I promise."

"Shake on it." She extended and hand and Dean hesitated before taking it. While shaking his hand, Kathleen pulled cuffs from her belt and slapped one on his wrist.

"Oh, come on. This is ridiculous. Kathleen, I really think you're gonna need my help," Dean said disbelievingly as she dragged him over to the car and cuffed him to the driver's side door.

"I'll manage. Thank you," Kathleen said as she headed down the trail. The car beeped as she locked it and Dean yanked on the cuffs.

"I gotta start carrying paper clips…"

…Kathleen found a house about two miles down the dirt road. It was the perfect location for creepy and that's exactly what she found. Tall trees clouded the sun from sight. Abandoned wagon wheels and rubber tires made indents in the tall grass and undoubtedly housed animals she didn't want to encounter. There was a run down barn to her left that she was sure was the source of the odor. The house wasn't in any better condition. Chipping white paint covered moldy wood and the porch creaked as she stepped onto it.

Her heart pounded in her ears as she opened the screen door and knocked. No answer.

"Hello? Anyone home?" The door almost immediately flew open and a grungy young girl stepped out. She was covered from head to toe in dirt, her dress looked like rags, and her blonde hair was stained grey with grim. _Abuse…_ "Hi, who are you?" Kathleen asked.

"Who are you?" the girl countered as she stepped forward and reached for Kathleen's badge.

"I'm Kathleen," she answered. "I'm a deputy. What's your name?"

"Missy."

"Missy? That's a pretty name. Missy, is your mom home?"

"She's dead."

"Oh…I'm sorry. What about your dad?" Missy only shook her head. Kathleen felt a shiver of fear, but she suppressed it. "No? Can I come in for a moment?" Missy shook her head and backed up a few steps. "I just want you to look at a picture," Kathleen said as she pulled the photo from her jacket pocket. "Have you seen that guy? Look at the picture…" Missy looked up and a wicked grin spread across her face. "What?"

"That's ganna hurt…" Kathleen turned but the next thing she knew was a mind spinning pain across her face and then white. She collapsed to the porch unconscious.

"Missy," the broad shouldered man who stood with a shovel over one shoulder said. "Go and tell your brothers I want to see 'em."

"Yes Daddy…"

X

Dean jerked his wrist on the handcuffs, but it was obvious that it wasn't coming loose. He'd looked everywhere and found nothing that he could use to pick the lock. He was stuck.

_Screeeech_…new plan! Dean looked around frantically and his eyes rested on the car antenna. He reached. The base of it barely grazed his fingers.

"Son of a bitch…" he could barely reach it, but slowly the antenna began to turn. The truck was getting closer. The antenna came loose and dropped to the ground. Dean knelt and picked it up as he began picking the lock…

… "Well I've never seen him so angry," Lee Bender said with a chuckle. His younger brother, Jared, grinned.

"I've never been followed by the police before." Lee unlocked the door and they both got in. "How about after we stash the car you and me go and have a little fun with that redhead?" Lee smiled.

"Yeah…"

X

Sam sat up with a start as he heard Pa Bender enter the barn. He was dragging something behind him. It was a woman…Tess? He dropped the body into the cage that had been Jenkins and just for good measure he placed a kick to the side of Sam's cage.

The woman didn't stir for another ten minutes. Ashe groaned and a hand flew to her head.

"You alright?" Sam asked as the woman sat up. She was taking heavy breaths and rolled her head to the side so she could see him.

"You…are you Sam Winchester?" she asked. Sam's stomach leapt into his throat.

"Yeah."

"Your-uh cousin is looking for you." Sam almost laughed. Leave it to Dean to find a way. "You seen any sight of his girlfriend Tess?" _girlfriend_?

"No…none whatsoever. You don't think she's here do you?" Sam had almost forgotten about Tess. Surely she would be able to track them back here, wouldn't she?

"We're not sure…your cousin just said that she disappeared. And then the phone call…"

"Where is he?" Sam asked as he gripped the bars with both hands. The woman, officer, looked guilty.

"I-uh-cuffed him to my car." Both of them practically jumped from their skin as the barn door opened again. Sam backed as far against his cage as he could to try and get a better view as the person shrouded in shadow made their way toward them.

"Sam?" _No…it can't be…_Sam smiled as his brother emerged from the far end of the room. "Hey you alright?" he asked with relief written all over his face.

"I'm fine," Sam answered.

"Damn it's good to see you," Dean said with a smile. Kathleen shook her head.

"How did you get out of the cuffs?" Dean turned to her with his trademark grin.

"Oh I have my ways." Kathleen looked confused but didn't inquire any further. "Alright," Dean said as he rounded to the front of the cage. "Oh these locks look like they're ganna be a bitch…"

"Well, there's some kind of automatic control right there," Sam said and Dean walked to where he was pointing.

"Have you seen them?" Dean asked as he opened the panel that was placed against the wall.

"Yeah, dude they're just people," Sam answered. Dean looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"And they jumped you? Must be getting a little rusty there, kiddo." He pressed a few of the buttons but nothing happened. "What do they want?"

"I don't know. They let Jenkins go, but that was some sort of trap. It doesn't make any sense to me," Sam replied.

"Well, that's the point. You know, with our usual playmates, there's rules, there's patterns. But with people, they're just crazy."

"See anything else out there?" Dean nodded his head as he continued to fiddle with the different buttons and switches.

"Uh, he has about a dozen junked cars hidden out back. Plates from all over, so I'm thinking when they take someone, they take their car, too."

"Did you see a black Mustang out there? About ten years old?" Kathleen's voice was raw and Dean looked over at her with wide eyes.

"Yeah, actually, I did," he answered and Kathleen dropped her eyes to the ground. "Your brother's?" She only nodded and Dean felt his heart sink. "I'm sorry…Let's get you guys out of here, then we'll take care of those bastards. This thing takes a key. Key?"

"I don't know," Sam said shrugging. Dean nodded and closed the panel.

"Alright, I better go find it."

"Hey," Sam called as Dean moved to leave. "Be careful."

"Yeah."

X

Tess groaned. Her head was killing her. She tried to roll onto her stomach, but her hands were pinned above her head. Her eyes flickered open. Dirty ceiling. She turned her head to the right. She was in some sort of bedroom, but everything from the floor to the walls to the curtains were covered in filth and were decaying.

"You're pretty." Tess snapped her head to the left. Bad idea. Pain shot through her head and her vision blurred for a moment. When it cleared she saw an equally grimy child sitting in a faded white rocking chair holding a doll. "Lee and Jared were talkin' 'bout you downstairs." Tess tried to sit up but her feet were bound as well. She inclined her head and saw each of her limbs was tied to a bed post. "Pa tied you up."

"So there's Pa, Lee and Jared," Tess said. Her voice was rough. "What's your name then?"

"Missy."

"Well Missy, don't suppose you'd mind _un_tying me would ya?" Missy gave her a cruel smile and Tess was convinced the girl was from the devil. "Didn't think so," Tess sighed as she laid back. She was in serious trouble.

"Pa's going to kill you," Missy said in an almost gleeful tone. "Say's you're going to make a good hunt."

"Yeah? Well you can tell _Pa_ to kiss my ass!" Tess snapped and Missy glared at her. "Not much of a hunt when the person is tied to a bed."

"Well he aint ganna hunt you yet," Missy reasoned as she stood. "Not till Lee and Jared get done with ya." Tess felt her body go numb with fear. _No…_The bedroom door burst open and Tess sat up as best she could. Two thugs, which she could only assume were Lee and Jared, stepped in.

"Missy, Pa wants us downstairs," the taller one said. Missy gave Tess one last smile before slipping out of the room. The two men turned their eyes back to Tess. She squirmed. _Keep calm, take control of the situation, you can handle this. They're just people…_

"You two can stare all day if you want, but I'm not ganna do any tricks," Tess said sarcastically. The taller of the two took a step forward and Tess' heart stopped for a moment. She pulled against her restraints but they didn't budge.

"Daddy!" All three heads looked to the door where they heard Missy's yell from. The taller one turned to the shorter.

"Go check it out," he ordered. The shorter one looked at Tess.

"But I-"

"Go, Lee!" The man cast one last look at Tess before sauntering from the room. Tess took in several deep breaths as the taller turned back to her.

"Jared I presume," she said trying to keep her cool. He grinned at her and sat on the edge of the bed. He placed a large hand on her face and stroked her skin. Tess turned away from the revolting touch. He took hold of a few strands of hair and leaned in to smell them. He paused as he leaned over her, his eyes on hers. "Get the hell away from me," Tess spat venomously. Jared glared at her and grabbed her chin. He forced his lips against hers and his other hand trailed along her abdomen. Tess writhed and twisted to get away from him, but the ropes cut into her skin.

Something downstairs crashed. There was an obvious scuffle. Jared sat up and Tess turned her head to the side as she dry heaved. Jared growled low in his throat and stormed from the room. Tess had to force back tears as she quickly analyzed the situation. The poles above her head were metal as were the ones near her feet. She pulled her right foot back a few inches and kicked. The pole bent. Good.

X

Dean entered the house as quietly as possible. He turned on his flashlight and started looking around. He entered a room to his left. The room was filled with shelves of jars and bottles. Upon closer inspection Dean noticed they were all varying body parts. He picked up a jar of something he couldn't quite identify. "Yikes…" he moved on and noticed pictures hanging on the far wall. They were Polaroid shots of two younger men standing next to dead bodies. One was Jenkins. "I'll say it again…demons I get. People are crazy." He crossed to the staircase and began to ascend.

Dean entered something that looked like a living room. A record was playing somewhere farther in the house. He noticed a wooden pole leaning against the wall and picked it up. Slowly, he made his way toward what he assumed was the kitchen. On a nearby table, there was a tray filled with keys. He peered around the corner of the kitchen and saw an old man cutting something up. The man turned around to pick up another tool and Dean quickly ducked back out. He moved toward the tray of keys, and as he started to pick one he noticed a jar full of teeth. He examined it briefly. "Sick…" He set the jar down and almost as soon as he had, the floor creaked behind him. He turned and saw a young girl standing there. "Sh…its ok I'm not going to hurt you," Dean said in a whisper.

"I know," she said with a cruel smile. She pulled out a knife and jammed it into the wall pinning Dean's coat. "Daddy!" she yelled.

"Jeez!"

"Daddy! Daddy!" Missy kept yelling. Dean ripped the knife from the wall as Pa Bender came barreling into the living room. Lee was already downstairs and grabbed Dean from behind. Dean used the body behind him to kick Pa Bender in the face. Lee threw Dean into the wall and he dropped the knife. Dean stood and punched the younger one in the face but he shoved Dean over a table. All three of them stood.

"I'm gonna kick your ass first," he said pointing to Lee. "Then yours," he said pointing to Pa Bender. He spoke too soon however, because Jared came up behind him and hit him over the head. Dean collapsed.


	18. Not Again

Dean opened his eyes and felt pain creeping from the back of his head and he was sure that the warm feeling on his head. He was sitting in a chair with his hands tied behind his back. The three men were standing in front of him watching him.

"Come on Pa, let's hunt him," Lee said energetically.

"Yeah, this one's a fighter. Sure would be fun to hunt," Jared added.

"Oh, you gotta be kiddin' me. That's what this is about? You yahoos hunt people?" Dean asked incredulously. Pa Bender leaned over him.

"You ever killed before?" he asked with a horrific glint in his eyes. I've hunted all my life. Just like my father, his before him. I've hunted deer and bear—I even got a cougar once. But the best hunt is human. Oh, there's nothin' like it. Holdin' their life in your hands. Seein' the fear in their eyes just before they go dark. Makes you feel powerful alive.

"You're a sick puppy," Dean commented. Lee and Jared exchanged looks and Pa Bender straightened.

"We give 'em a weapon. Give 'em a fightin' chance. It's kind of like our tradition passed down, father to son. Of course, only one or two a year. Never enough to bring the law down, we never been that sloppy."

"Yeah, well, don't sell yourself short. You're plenty sloppy." Dean chuckled at his own joke.

"So, what, you with that pretty cop? Are you a cop?" Pa Bender moved behind him so Dean could only hear his voice.

"If I tell you, you promise not to make me into an ashtray?" Lee's face turned red with anger and he hit Dean across the face.

"Only reason I don't let my boys take you right here and now is that there's somethin' I need to know."

"Yeah, how about it's not nice to marry your sister," Dean chided and again he grinned at his own joke.

"Tell me…any of the cops gonna come lookin' for you?" Pa Bender asked as he removed a hot poker from the fireplace and walked back toward Dean.

"Oh, eat me. No, no, no, wait, wait…you actually might." Lee moved forward and grabbed Dean's head holding him in place.

"You think this is funny? You brought this down on my family. Alright, you wanna play games? We'll play some games. Looks like we're gonna have a hunt tonight after all, boys. Then maybe a little fun with that redhead of yours…"

"Tess…" Dean whispered in shock and he realized his mistake. All three men stopped and starred at Dean. Pa bender cleared his throat.

"In fact, Jared why don't you go get your little playmate now." Jared grinned and moved from the room. _This is bad…_ It was one thing when it was only Dean's neck on the line, but when you put someone else in the equation…

The next thing he heard was a cry of pain, and then heavy footsteps. Jared came in the room a minute later with a body thrown over his shoulder. It was Tess. He dropped her to the floor and she groaned. Her jeans were caked in mud and there was a cut on her left shoulder that looked as though it had bled for awhile before coagulating. Her wrists were bound together in front of her. Her hair was covering her face as she tried to stand. Jared grabbed her around the middle and hoisted her to her feet, her back pressed against him.

"Jesus…" Dean muttered as she looked at him. Her face was smudged with dirt and her lip was broken open and still bleeding. Her eyes were focused on his. She looked scared. Not that he could blame her.

"Well now, looks like you two have met before," Pa Bender said with a wheezing cackle. "Oh Jared here has taken quite a liking to the wench, haven't ya Jared?" His only answer was a smile and a wandering hand to her torso. She tried to rip herself loose, but he laughed and held on tighter. "Now, let's see if we can get some answers." He raised the hot poker again. "So which animal are we going to be hunting tonight, boy?" he asked Dean. "The cop, the boy, or the redhead?"

"Okay, wait, wait…look, nobody's coming for me, alright? It's just us." Pa clearly wasn't satisfied with the answer because the poker came closer.

"You don't choose, I will…" He pressed the poker against Dean's shoulder and he cried out in pain.

"Dean!" Tess yelled and struggled against Jared's grip. "Stop it!" Pa Bender pulled the poker away and glared over at her.

"You keep that bitch quiet Jared, or so help me I'll kill her now." Jared squeezed Tess so hard the air escaped her lungs. He pulled a knife from his pocket and pressed it against her abdomen.

"Alright, the guy, the guy! Take the guy!" Lee let go of Dean's head and Pa Bender laughed. He handed Lee a key.

"Go do it Lee, but don't let him out. Shoot him in the cage." Tess and Dean's eyes widened.

"What? I thought you said you were going to hunt him. You were going to give him a chance!" Dean protested, but none of them were listening. "Don't you touch my brother!"

"Lee, when you're done with the boy…shoot the cop, too." Lee nodded and ran out of the room with a rifle in hand. "Better clean this mess up before any more cops come running out here…Jared you finish with that bitch. This house is getting a little too crowded."

"Yes Pa," Jared said with a wicked smile. Pa Bender left the room toward the kitchen and Jared hauled Tess backward. She screamed and writhed in his arms.

"Let her go!" Dean shouted and pulled on his restraints. Jared threw Tess on the table and stabbed the knife into the wall above his head. It sank in to the hilt. Tess rolled off the table and stood. Jared grabbed for her and she kicked him across the face. He fell to his knees. Jared grabbed her ankle and she landed face first on the ground. She kicked at him, but he grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against the wall.

"Hold still," Jared grunted as she tried to fight him off. He lifted her hands above her head and hooked her bounds wrists over the hilt of the knife suspending her almost a foot off the ground. Her own body weight was twisting her shoulder blades painfully. She couldn't get enough leverage against the wall to lift herself.

"You son of a bitch, I swear to God if you touch her I'll kill you!" Jared only laughed as he turned to look at Dean. The two men glared at one another and Jared only laughed harder.

"You keep quiet and enjoy the show," Jared said sickly and backhanded Tess. She whimpered as he pressed himself against her and tore her sweater open leaving long fingernail scratches on the skin above her tanktop. He pressed his lips against hers but she turned her face and he bit at her neck. She could feel hot tears pouring down her face and she kicked at him. He grabbed her hips and slammed her against the wall. She could feel him starting to yank her pants down and she squeezed her eyes shut. _Not again…_

_Bang…_

Jared jerked away from her as he heard a gunshot from the barn. He grinned at Dean. "Looks like you're an only child now," he said laughing. Dean looked like he was going to throw up. Pa Bender came around the corner and moved through the room as though nothing were going on.

"Lee!" he yelled through the open door. "Lee!" Bender came back in the room. "Jared," he said and Jared growled moving away from Tess. "I'm ganna go check on Lee. You hurry up now." Jared nodded as his father left the room.

"Where were we," Jared grinned as he moved toward Tess again. Tess had managed to turn her wrists so she was gripping the handle of the knife. She lifted herself enough to kick Jared across the face. He fell to the ground and she squirmed trying to free herself.

"Look out!" Dean yelled as Jared grabbed a rifle off the table. He swung the blunt end of it and it struck her knee with a sickening _crack_. Tess cried in pain.

"You stupid bitch!" he hit her across the face again and slammed himself against her. In the commotion, Dean scooted his chair backward until he felt the fireplace. His hands groped and he found the knife Bender had used on him earlier. He was through the ropes in an instant. He grabbed the chair and smashed it over the back of Jared's head. He fell limp.

"Dean!" He turned and saw Missy running toward him with the knife. He easily dodged her, grabbed her by the wrist, twisted her arm until she dropped the knife, and forced her into the closet where he pushed the table up against it locking her in. When he turned back around, Tess was struggling to get herself down.

"Tess," he called and ran over to her. He grabbed her by the waist and lifted her enough so she could pull her wrists free. He gently set her down conscious of her bleeding leg. She was shaking. "You ok?" he asked as one hand held her face. She only nodded as she leaned against his chest. He quickly untied her wrists pulled her into a tight hug. She wrapped her arms around his neck and let him comfort her for a brief moment.

"Sam…" Dean pulled way to look into her eyes. She was still crying. "Go, I'll take care of him," she said, but Dean hesitated. "Go, I'll be fine!" Dean sprinted from the room and Tess picked up the rifle and cocked it. Jared groaned as he rolled onto his back. He looked up at her. Her hatred for him grew as he grinned. "Go to hell."

_Bang…_

X

"Lee?" Pa Bender moved farther into the barn toward the cages. "Lee what the hell…" instead of seeing the two prisoners locked in cages; he saw the younger of his two boys lying unconscious in one of them. He moved toward the panel on the wall and hit the button. Nothing. The fuses were blown. He moved over to the cage and shot the lock off with his shotgun. "Get up!" he said kicking Lee in the side. Lee groaned and crawled from the cage. "Where'd they go?"

"I don't know," Lee said as he stood. Pa Bender glared at him

"You go get your brother and we'll hunt 'em down," Bender ordered. Lee moved toward the door, but stopped when both of them heard rustling in the side room. They exchanged looks. Lee grabbed a shovel off the ground and moved around one side while Pa Bender moved around the other. Lee turned as something ran past him out of the room.

"Pa I got one!" as he rounded the corner someone dropped on his back. He was pulled backward as Kathleen began choking him. He backed up and slammed her into the wall. She let go. He turned and swung the shovel but she ducked.

In the other room, Pa Bender was chasing Sam. He ran into the room that Kathleen and Lee were in.

"Hey!" Sam called as he ran behind the brutish man. Lee turned and swung the shovel, but instead of hitting Sam, the metal spade hit Pa Bender across the face. The gun discharged and the spray of bullets shot into Lee's leg. The man cried in pain and dropped. Kathleen grabbed the fallen shovel and hit Lee over the head knocking him out.

Sam grabbed the chamber of the gun and thrust it backward so it struck Bender in the face. The old man's grip loosened enough so he could pull it from him. Sam punched the man for good measure and he fell onto the ground.

He turned and saw Kathleen had pulled Lee back into a cage, the one she had been in, and locked it.

"I'll watch this one," she said gesturing to Pa Bender. "You go ahead." Sam tossed her the gun and she aimed it at him before taking off.

"You hurt my family, I'm gonna bleed you, bitch," Bender spat as he glared up at her.

"You killed my brother," she said through gritted teeth. Her eyes were wet with tears. A broad smile spread across Bender's face.

"Your brother?" he asked. "Now I see…" he was practically laughing.

"Just tell me why?" she pleaded in a small voice.

"Because it was fun." Kathleen felt her heart sink. Anger welled up inside of her and she fired the gun into the man's chest without a second thought. He collapsed dead.

X

"Dean," Sam called as he exited the barn. His brother was running toward him across the lawn and they met in the middle. "What happened?" he asked. Clearly Dean was thinking the same thing. Neither on of them answered, however, as they heard a gunshot from inside the house closely followed by one in the barn. A moment later, Kathleen exited the barn and was walking toward them slowly.

"Where's the girl?" Kathleen asked when she had reached them. Sam looked at Dean.

"She's locked inside the closet," he answered. "What about Lee and the dad?" he asked in return.

"Lee's in a cage…" Sam started but turned to Kathleen for the second part of the question.

"The dad's dead. I shot him when he tried to escape." The three exchanged looks. It was unlikely that Bender had tried to escape, but neither Dean nor Sam could blame her for shooting the man. "Weren't there three?"

"Tess…" Dean turned and ran back into the house while Sam and Kathleen stared after him. "Tess?" he called as he stepped into the house. There was nothing but silence. He stepped into the living room and saw Jared lying in a pool of blood on the floor. Tess was sitting in a chair across from the body. She was using the shards of her red sweater that had been torn off of her to bind her knee. With only her tank top left, he could see the numerous bruises along her arms. "Tess? He asked again. She turned her bloodshot eyes to him.

"Where are the others?" she asked. Her voice was raw. Dean crossed the room and stood next to her.

"They're taken care of," he answered. Tess nodded and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. There was blood running down her neck from a bite wound. "Jesus Tess," he said and lightly touched her neck.

"I'm fine," she said quickly and pulled away from his touch. She finished tying her knee and limped past him with the gun in her hand. Dean caught her arm. "What?" she asked, but didn't turn to look at him.

"Tess…"

"Come on." She pulled her arm from him and limped toward the door. He quickly followed behind her.

"Tess," Sam said with a sigh of relief. Tess forced a smile and let him hug her. She winced in pain, however. "You look like hell."

"Nice to see you too, Sam," she said with a small laugh. He ran a hand through his hair and looked behind her at Dean.

"Kathleen went to get her radio from her car," Sam explained. Dean nodded. "We should get going. We don't want to be around here when the police show up."

"I think the car is at the police station," Dean commented. The three of them turned as they heard the scratching static of a radio.

"_Backup unit en route to your location…_" Kathleen approached them and gave Tess a once over before looking at Dean.

"This her?" Dean nodded and Kathleen looked at Tess again. "Jesus…" she shook her head. "Anyway, state police and the FBI are gonna be here within the hour. They're gonna wanna talk to you. I suggest that you're long gone by then."

"Thanks. Hey, listen, I don't mean to press our luck, but we're kind of in the middle of nowhere. Think we could catch a ride?" Dean asked hopefully.

"Start walking. Duck if you see a squad car," Kathleen suggested. Dean looked as though he were going to argue, but Sam cut him off.

"Sounds great to me, thanks," he moved past Kathleen, but stopped as he overheard Dean talking with Kathleen.

"Listen, uh….I'm sorry about your brother."

"Thank you. It was really hard not knowing what happened to him. I thought it would be easier once I knew the truth…but it isn't really." The tears were evident in her voice. "Anyway, you should go." Dean didn't want to press her anymore about it, so he turned and the three of them started down the road.

"When we hit the highway we can hitch a ride," Dean said as he walked beside Tess. "No offense but I don't think that you can make it back to town on that knee." Tess didn't look up at him.

"Don't worry about it, my car is parked about a mile down the road," she said casually. Sam turned back and looked at them.

"Lee and Jared didn't stash it?" he asked. Tess winced at the name and Sam looked at Dean.

"I doubt it; I was parked pretty far in the woods." It was enough of a plan to satisfy the two brothers. Tess took a few steps in front of them signaling she was finished talking. Sam and Dean kept their pace leisurely seeing as Tess was still limping.

"Never do that again," Dean said to Sam.

"Do what?"

"Go missing like that…" Sam chuckled.

"You were worried about me."

"All I'm saying is, you vanish like that again, I'm not looking for you."

"Sure you won't," Sam said with a big smile.

"I'm not!" Dean argued.

"So, you got sidelined by a thirteen-year-old girl, huh?"

"Oh shut up..."

"Just saying…you're getting rusty their kiddo."

"Shut up," Dean said but he laughed. When he looked over at Sam, he met the puppy dog look. "What?" he asked and Sam nodded toward Tess. Dean sighed, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and caught up to Tess. He didn't say anything at first, but instead stared at her out of the corner of his eye. "H-How's the knee?" he asked and Tess shrugged. He glanced down at it and saw her jeans were stained red where the remains of her sweater were tied. "Holy shit…"

"Dean!" Tess said as he knelt and grabbed hold of her leg. She grabbed his shoulder to keep from stumbling backward. Dean ripped open her pant leg and winced. Her kneecap was dislocated and there was a deep cut running along the top of her knee.

"Sam, look at this." Tess didn't have time to protest before Sam had knelt next to Dean. He glanced up at Tess and she adverted her eyes.

"This looks really bad…" Tess scoffed and shoved Dean away causing him to release her leg so she could stand on her own.

"And it feels worse, let's just keep moving."

"You're not walking anymore on that leg!"

"What do you suggest?" Tess asked. "We sit here and hitch a ride from a state trooper? Great idea…"

"I'll go get the car and come back for you," Sam suggested. Tess glared at him out of the corner of her eyes.

"No one drives my car except for…"

"Either Sam gets the car or one of us carries you," Dean said quirking an eyebrow. Tess evaluated the situation for a moment. On a good day she might stand a chance against one of them, but not today with her injuries and both of them. Tess kicked her left boot off and pulled a spare key out before handing it to Sam.

"You two wait here," Sam said before jogging off.

"It's on the right behind a cluster of bushes!" Tess called after him. Sam turned back and nodded once before continuing. Tess didn't look at Dean as she moved farther off the road toward the line of trees and sat with her back against a tree. Dean followed and sat next to her.

They remained silent for a long time. Dean was picking grass and dropping it into a pile while Tess stared vacantly at the patch of dirt in front of her.

"Why don't you let me bandage up your knee," Dean suggested. Tess turned and looked at him with an expression reading she hadn't heard him. "Knee?"

"It's fine." Dean didn't listen to her as he grabbed the fabric from her sweater and knelt in front of her. "Dean…really, stop, its fine I'll do it…Jesus!" Tess bit into her lip as Dean took hold of her knee. He glanced up at her with an apologetic look and she scowled. "What, no sarcastic comments about it not being that bad?" Dean was silent and Tess rolled her eyes.

He finished tying the makeshift bandage around her leg and his thumb brushed her calf. Tess shivered.

"Cold?" Dean asked as he looked up at her. Tess shook her head. Despite her gesture he took off his jacket.

"Is this international 'ignore what Tess is saying' day?" she asked with annoyance. "I'm fine!"

"Tess, take the jacket!"

"No! I'm not cold."

"You're shivering like crazy!"

"Well if you'd get your hand off my leg maybe I wouldn't be shaking!" Tess bit her lip and looked away from Dean. His eyes widened slightly and as she looked back up at him he looked away. Dean extended the jacket to her and she took it without argument. He stood as she slipped it on.

"Guess I owe you one Rookie," Tess said quietly. Dean turned to look at her but her eyes were on the ground.

"What do you say we call it even? Hell… I lost count about four favors ago." Tess couldn't help the smile.

"Have it your way Rookie," Tess said in a voice barely above a whisper. Dean stuffed his hands in his jean pockets. He glanced down at Tess, but her head was rested against the trunk of the tree and her eyes were shut.

"You're not falling into a coma are you?" he asked sarcastically.

"It's kind of hard with you yapping," Tess said with her eyes still shut. Dean grinned.

"Good just making sure…do you want me to check you for a concussion?" Tess opened one eye to glare at Dean and he chuckled. She closed her eye and they fell silent again. Dean rocked on his heels. "Wonder where Sam is with the car…"

"Are you capable of silence?"

"Don't think so."

"I can fix that."

"Really?"

"Yep. I could cut your tongue out."

"There's better ways to occupy your mouth…"

"Not even with a severe concussion, Dean." He chuckled again. Dean shielded his eyes as headlight illuminated them. Sam pulled the truck to a stop on the side of the road.

"Come on pokey," he said extending a hand to Tess. She glared up at him, but accepted his outstretched hand. He wrapped an arm firmly around her waist to hold her up. "Your carriage milady," he said grinning down at her.

"Don't push it."

X

"How's Tess?" Sam asked as Dean stepped inside the motel room. Dean shut the door and tossed his duffle bag on the ground next to one of the twin beds.

"She's asleep. Those pain meds the doc gave her really knocked her out." Sam nodded. "It's a good thing too. She was already texting a contact for her next hunt."

"Doesn't surprise me." Dean stopped and gave Sam a confused look.

"Oh come on man, she's exactly like you! Never knows when to quit, when to take a break." Dean rolled his eyes. "You could have your head severed and you'd still be looking for the next hunt."

"Ha! That'd be pretty cool." Sam chuckled and shook his head. "Anyway, I figure we pack up tonight leave in the morning."

"Where to?" Sam asked as he sat on the edge of one of the beds. Dean shrugged. "Oh ok, we'll just flip a coin at each turn. You know: left or right."

"Very funny. I was thinking we'd head east. Maybe check the Chicago area." Sam furrowed his brow and Dean looked away from him.

"Are you trying to find Dad or are you trying to get away from Tess?" Dean scoffed.

"What? You're crazy!"

"You like her," Sam said as he stood. "I mean, not just sleep with her 'like her' I mean you're really falling in…"

"Don't say it!" Dean snapped. "You're crazy, I'm not in-I mean I don't. It's not like that with her. She's a fellow hunter. That's it."

"Oh God," Sam said with a smile, "you really do care about her." Sam started laughing. "The famous Dean Winchester, womanizer extraordinaire has finally found his match."

"Drop dead," Dean said as he left the room. Sam laughed and sat back on the edge of the bed.


End file.
